How did Patricia Roberts Harris grow up?

Answer 1

Patricia Roberts Harris (1924-1985) was appointed US secretary of housing and urban development by President Carter in 1977.She was the first African American woman in the US Cabinet.

• She was born in Illinois, and did well at school and university.
• She was a member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and led a demonstration in Washington.
• She graduated top of her class in law school and took a position in the Department of Justice.
• She then became a professor and associate dean at Howard University.
• President Kennedy appointed her chairperson of the National Women's Committee for Civil Rights.
• President Johnson named her to the 13-member Commission on the Status of Puerto Rico.
• She became the first female African American ambassador in US history as ambassador to Luxembourg in 1965.
• She became the first female African American chosen dean of Howard University law school.
• At the same time she was the first US African American delegate to the United Nations.
• She joined a law firm and remained active in Democratic politics.
• She became permanent chairperson of the powerful Credentials Committee for the 1972 Democratic National Convention.
• President Jimmy Carter named Harris secretary of housing and urban development. At her confirmation hearing she said "Senator, ... you do not seem to understand who I am. I'm a black woman, the daughter of a dining car waiter. ... I am a black woman who could not buy a house eight years ago in parts of the District of Columbia. ... If my life has any meaning at all, it is that those who start out as outcasts may end up being part of the system."
• She refocused that department and made a lot of successful improvements.
• President Carter appointed her to the largest cabinet post, Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW), in 1979.
• She became the first secretary of health and human services.
• In 1982, she ran for mayor of Washington, but lost.
• She returned to her position as professor of law at George Washington University Law Center.
• Patricia Roberts Harris died of cancer on March 23, 1985, five months after the death of her husband.

Answer 2

She was born on May 31, 1924, in Mattoon, Illinois, USA, to working class parents. Her father was a railroad dining car waiter. She studied hard at school and graduated from Howard University in 1945.

Answer 3

She was born on May 31, 1924, in Mattoon, Illinois