She was described by The Morning Call newspaper of Allentown, Pennsylvania prior to the 1954 elections as "the first woman ever to seek political office in [Northampton] county" and as the "First Northampton County Woman to Win Assembly Seat" in its post-election headlines,[3][4][5] and was also one of only two women (along with Lisa Boscola) to have been elected to the Senate for Lehigh and Northampton counties as of 2015.[6]
Early years and education
Born as Jeanette Lillian Fichman in Fort Wayne, Indiana on August 18, 1915, to Meir and Pearl Schwartz Fichman[7] Jeanette Fichman graduated from North Side High School, and earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science with minors in English and Economics at Hunter College in 1937.[8][9]
She worked in Washington, D.C. as an attorney for the tax division of the United States War Department from 1940 to 1942[9] and the U.S. War Production Board from 1944 to 1946.[8] After marrying attorney Nathan L. Reibman in 1943, she relocated with him to the Easton, Pennsylvania area to raise a family.[10][11]
In 1954, the American Association of University Women recommended she run for to the Easton Area School Board and she was elected. She soon realized that she could do more to help with Easton schools at the state level.[13]
