Helen Lehman Buttenwieser (October 8, 1905 – December 31, 1989) was an American lawyer and philanthropist.
A member of the Lehman family of New York, she graduated from Connecticut College and New York University Law School. In 1929, she married Benjamin Buttenwieser, a prominent banker and philanthropist.
Her legal work focused on aiding women and children (especially adoption, foster care, and child welfare) and preserving civil liberties. From 1946 to 1948 she chaired a New York City investigation into reforming the adoption system. She founded her own law firm, becoming active in the New York Democratic State Committee, the New York City Bar Association, the Legal Aid Society, the New York chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, and the Legal Defense Fund of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
The Helen Lehman Buttenwieser Scholarship and Fellowship at Columbia University is named in her honor.
Famous quotes containing the words helen and/or lehman:
“Excuse me while I slip into something more comfortable.”
—H. Behn, screenwriter, H. Eastabrook, screenwriter, and J.M. March, screenwriter. Howard Hughes, J. Whale, M. Nielan, and L. Reed. Helen (Jean Harlow)
“I didn’t realize you were an art collector. I thought you just collected corpses. I’ll bet you paid plenty for this little piece of sculpture. She’s worth every dollar of it, take it from me. She puts her heart into her work, in fact, her whole body.”
—Ernest Lehman (b. 1920)