Middle School
Worksheets
Who Wanted to Be the First Female Vice President?
Geraldine Ferraro's father came to America from Italy. When Geraldine was only eight years old, her father died. Her mother worked as a seamstress to support herself and her child. Geraldine was a very hard worker. She was also very smart. She was able to skip three grades in school. This meant that she graduated from high school when she was only sixteen years old. She was able to earn a scholarship to Marymount Manhattan College. After college, she taught second grade in the New York Public School System for five years.
While teaching, Geraldine went to night school. She graduated from Fordham Law School in 1960. During this same time, she met and married a real estate agent named John Zaccaro. Practicing law was put on hold while she raised their three children, Donna, John, and Laura.
It was thirteen years before Ms. Ferraro got back into law. She went to work for the Queens County District Attorney's Office. She specialized in cases that involved child abuse, home related violence, and violence towards the elderly.
