Miriam Olden (Fendler) entered the University of Michigan when she was 15. The Dean of Women at Michigan thought she was too nervous and high strung to make it in college and suggested she leave Ann Arbor and go home. Mirian Olden knew she wanted to be a lawyer and threw herself into her studies and extracurriculars. She became a member of the Eta chapter of Phi Sigma Sigma, acted in a play, and joined the debate team and a literary society, to name a few of her college activities.
After graduating from Michigan with a Bachelor’s, she entered the law school there. She left Ann Arbor after a year and enrolled at the University of Southern California to complete her legal education. She was a member of the USC Debate Team. Her field was civil law and community property. She passed the California bar exam in 1929 when she was 21 years old.
Although she wanted to join a law firm, in 1929 law was primarily a male dominated field. She met her future husband, Howard Fendler, also a lawyer, on a blind date to the Valentine’s dance hosted by the Phi Sigma Sigma alumnae.
Active in the Los Angeles Phi Sigma Alumnae Association, she attended the 1930 convention in Cincinnati and served as the National Convention Chairman of the 1932 convention in Los Angeles.
She opened her own law office. Although She and Howard Fendler hit it off, they had a major disagreement and avoided each other for a year. A reunion on another Valentine’s Day led to a quick engagement and a March 1933 marriage. She was 25. She also became Phi Sig’s Grand Archon (National President) and served from 1933 through 1935.
After her wedding, she kept her maiden name. However, she relented when she became pregnant and thought it odd that a client called her “Miss Olden.” The Fendlers had two sons who were born within 20 months of each other. When her sons were growing up she became an active member of the League of Women Voters. Her efforts were toward legislative and election work. She conducted study groups on government and educated the public on the need for changes.
Fendler was also active in the Southern California Association of Women Lawyers. She said, “Women are taking a more active interest in government and I am convinced that if we are to have a peace-loving world a lot of the responsibility will have to rest with the women. Therefore they must be prepared to shoulder it.”
After World War II, Fendler entered practice with her husband. Together, the couple traveled to D.C. where they were admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Fendlers spent their last years in Hawaii. In 1978 Miriam Fendler was one of the founders of Art Maui. She died in August 1987. A bequest was left to the Phi Sigma Sigma Foundation for the establishment of a book award to be given to a Phi Sig attending a Michigan school.
