Ellen Sulzberger Straus (March 11, 1925 – February 24, 1995) was an American businesswoman and philanthropist who founded the United States' first telephone help line.
[2] After school, she worked as the executive secretary of the New York League of Women Voters and later on the staff of the Atomic Energy Commission eventually becoming the assistant director of public information.
[3] In 1963, she founded the United States' first telephone help line, a non-profit entitled Call for Action, whose purpose was to assisting people who had problems with government officials, businesses, and landlords.
[2] In 1983, she conducted an exclusive interview with Jean Harris, the murderer of "Scarsdale Diet" doctor Herman Tarnower which she developed into a radio series.
[2] Straus worked on the presidential primary campaigns of senator Gary Hart of Colorado in 1984 and former Arizona governor Bruce Babbitt in 1988.