Lynn Schenk

Who is Lynn Schenk?

Lynn Schenk is a former American Democratic politician from the state of California. She served one term in the United States House of Representatives, from 1993 to 1995.

Schenk was born in 1945, in the Bronx, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor. She attended public schools in the Bronx and Los Angeles, and graduated from Hamilton High School. She received her B.A. from U.C.L.A. in 1967 and her J.D. from the University of San Diego School of Law in 1970. There were only three other women in her law class. Schenk did post-graduate study in international law at the London School of Economics.

In 1971, with two other female lawyers, Schenk broke the gender barrier at The Grant Grill in the downtown San Diego U. S. Grant Hotel. Women were prohibited during lunch, so a male friend made a reservation and the three women went in to eat, unescorted. They ordered mock turtle soup, a specialty not available in the hotel’s other restaurants.

After trying to push them out the door, the staff seated them. The three continued to come back until a "No women before 3 p.m." sign was removed. The next year, she and other women formed the Lawyers Club of San Diego, which worked for passage of the Equal Rights Amendment and on other women's rights issues.