Senator Hazel Hempel Abel

Hazel Hempel Abel (née Hempel; July 10, 1888 – July 30, 1966) was an American educator, business executive, and Republican politician from Nebraska who served as a United States Senator from Nebraska in 1954. A member of the Republican Party, she contributed to the legislative process during one brief term in office and became the second woman elected to the Senate from Nebraska, as well as the first woman to follow another woman in the same Senate seat. She remains the shortest‑serving senator from Nebraska, having served for fifty‑four days.

Abel was born in Plattsmouth, Nebraska, the daughter of Charles Hempel and Ella Hempel. She attended the public schools of Omaha, Nebraska, and went on to the University of Nebraska, from which she graduated in 1908. Following her graduation, she embarked on a career in education, teaching high school mathematics and later serving as a principal in several Nebraska communities, including Papillion, Ashland, and Crete. Her early professional life in the classroom and school administration reflected a sustained commitment to education that would later inform her public service.

In 1916, Hazel Hempel married George Abel. The couple had five children: Helen, George, Hazel, Alice, and Annette. Over time, Abel shifted from education into business, working in her husband’s construction firm. She served successively as secretary, treasurer, and eventually president of the company, gaining significant administrative and executive experience. This combination of educational and business leadership helped establish her reputation in Nebraska civic and political circles and provided a foundation for her later involvement in Republican Party affairs.

Abel’s formal political career developed through party organization work at the state level. She was a delegate to the Nebraska State Republican Conventions from 1939 to 1948 and again from 1952 to 1956. In 1954 she was elected vice chairman of the State Republican Central Committee, underscoring her growing influence within the party. That same year, she also became president and founder of the Nebraska Federation of Republican Women, reflecting her particular interest in expanding opportunities for women in politics and public life.

Hazel Hempel Abel’s service in Congress occurred during a significant period in American history, marked by the early Cold War and the domestic controversies surrounding Senator Joseph McCarthy. In 1954 she was elected to complete the unexpired term of Senator Kenneth Spicer Wherry of Nebraska, who had died in office. Eva Bowring had previously been appointed to fill the vacancy temporarily, and Abel’s election made her the second woman elected to the Senate from Nebraska and the first woman ever to follow another woman in the same Senate seat. She served as a Senator from Nebraska in the United States Congress from November 8, 1954, until her resignation on December 31, 1954, a period of fifty‑four days during the fifteenth Senate term for Nebraska’s Class 2 seat (January 3, 1949, to January 3, 1955). Although her tenure was brief, she participated fully in the democratic process and represented the interests of her constituents. While in the Senate, she voted to censure Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin in connection with the Army–McCarthy hearings. She resigned three days before the formal expiration of the term in order to give fellow Republican Carl Curtis, who had been elected to the full six‑year term beginning in January 1955, a modest advantage in seniority. Abel later explained that she had actively campaigned for the short, two‑month term in part to raise the visibility of women in political office, telling Newsweek, “To me it was more than just a short term in the Senate. I wanted Nebraska voters to express their approval of a woman in government. I was sort of a guinea pig.”

Following her brief congressional service, Abel remained active in public affairs at the state and national levels. In 1955 she served as a delegate to the White House Conference on Education, reflecting her longstanding interest in educational policy. She was chairwoman of the Nebraska delegation to the 1956 Republican National Convention and, from 1955 to 1959, a member of the Theodore Roosevelt Centennial Commission. In 1957 she was named “American Mother of the Year,” an honor that recognized both her family life and her civic engagement. She also served on the boards of trustees of Doane College and Nebraska Wesleyan College, continuing her involvement in higher education governance. In 1960 she sought, but did not secure, the Republican nomination for Governor of Nebraska, an effort that underscored her continuing ambition to shape public policy in her state.

Hazel Hempel Abel spent her later years in Lincoln, Nebraska. She died there on July 30, 1966, and was interred in Wyuka Cemetery in Lincoln. Her contributions to education, business, and public service, as well as her pioneering though brief tenure in the United States Senate, are commemorated locally by Hazel Abel Park in Lincoln, which bears her name.