Patricia Roberts Harris ; Patrickia Roberts Harris ; May 31, 1924 , Mattoon, Illinois , USA - March 23, 1985 , Washington , USA who was renamed the US Secretary of Health and Human Services while she was in this post) in the administration of US President Jimmy Carter . She was the first African American to work in the U.S. Cabinet , and also to be listed on the US Presidential Inheritance Order . Prior to that, she worked as the US ambassador to Luxembourg ( 1965 - 1967 ) during the presidency of Lyndon Johnson , while also becoming the first African American to serve as the US ambassador. [2]
| Patricia Roberts Harris | |||||||
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| English Patricia roberts harris | |||||||
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| Predecessor | Carla hills | ||||||
| Successor | Moon landview | ||||||
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| Predecessor | Joseph Califano | ||||||
| Successor | Richard Schweiker | ||||||
| Birth | May 31, 1924 Mattoon , Illinois , USA | ||||||
| Death | March 23, 1985 (60 years old) Washington , USA | ||||||
| Burial place | |||||||
| Spouse | William Beasley Harris | ||||||
| The consignment | Democratic Party | ||||||
| Education | George Washington University School of Law , Howard University | ||||||
| Awards | National Women's Hall of Fame ( 2003 ) [d] | ||||||
| Place of work | |||||||
Biography
Patricia Roberts was born in Mattoon , Illinois [3] and was the daughter of a restaurant car waiter. In 1945, she graduated with the greatest honor (“Sum Kum Laud”) from Howard University . Prior to this, in 1943, she was elected to the Fi-Beta-Kappa Society, and also took part in one of the first national sit-in demonstration . There she met William Beasley Harris, a member of the law school at Howard University, whom she married in 1955. In 1949, she graduated from graduate school at the University of Chicago and America . Until 1953, she worked as an assistant director of the American Human Rights Council. She was the first national leader of the Delta-Sigma-Theta Women's Society [4] . Later, in 1960 , Roberts earned a doctorate in law from George Washington University, taking first place among 94 people in the class.
Harris did not work long in the US Department of Justice before she returned to Howard University in 1961 as Deputy Dean for Student and Lecture in Law at the Howard School of Law. In 1963, she was promoted to full professor, and in 1969 she was appointed dean of the Howard University School of Law.
Her first position in the U.S. government was as a lawyer in the appeals and research departments of the U.S. Department of Justice's criminal unit in 1960 . There she met and made friends with Robert Kennedy , the new chief prosecutor. In 1963, John Kennedy appointed Patricia Harris as co-chair of the National Women's Civil Rights Committee.
In 1964, Harris was elected as a delegate from the District of Columbia to the Democratic National Convention. She worked in Lyndon Johnson's presidential campaign and supported his candidacy for the 1964 Democratic Convention. Soon after Johnson's victory, she appointed her to the post of ambassador to Luxembourg, where she worked from 1965 to 1967 . After working as dean of the Howard School of Law from 1969 to 1972 , she began working at a prestigious law firm in Washington .
In 1971, Harris was appointed director of IBM .
Harris continued to influence the Democratic Party when in 1972 she was appointed Chairperson of the Credentials Committee and special member of the Democratic National Committee in 1973 . She showed her highest professionalism under President Jimmy Carter when he appointed her to two positions in the US Cabinet.
Harris was introduced to the U.S. Cabinet after Jimmy Carter took office in 1977 . Thus, she became the first African American in the history of the United States to be listed on the US Presidential Inheritance List under number 13. Between 1977 and 1979, she served as the US Secretary of Housing and Urban Development , and in 1979 she became the Secretary of Health and Education. and welfare.
After the act of organizing the Department of Education came into effect on May 4, 1980, the Department of Education, Welfare and Welfare education functions were transferred to the US Department of Education . The position that Harris held at that time was renamed the US Secretary of Health and Human Services. She held this position until the term of office of President Jimmy Carter expired in 1981 . Insofar as the ministry was simply renamed, and not dissolved, in connection with the formation of a new one, she did not again face confirmation of her candidacy for the post of minister.
Harris unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Washington on September 14, 1982 , losing to the then-acting mayor Marion Barry . In the same year, she was appointed full professor at the George Washington National Law Center. She held this position until her death. Patricia Harris died of breast cancer on March 23, 1985 at the age of sixty. She was buried in the Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington.
Notes
- ↑ The name change took effect May 4, 1980.
- ↑ DeLaat, Jacqueline. Harris, Patricia Roberts // Women in World History, Vol. 7: Harr-I . - Waterford, CT: Yorkin Publications, 2000. - P. 14-17. - ISBN 0-7876-4066-2 .
- ↑ Thompson, Kathleen. Harris, Patricia Roberts (1924–1985) // Black Women in America: An Historical Encyclopedia. - Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1994. - P. 539-540. - ISBN 0-253-32774-1 .
- ↑ Notable Deltas Archived on October 13, 2012.