Patricia Roberts Harris

Patricia Roberts Harris
United States Secretary of Health and Human Services
In office May 4, 1980 – January 20, 1981
President	Jimmy Carter
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Richard Schweiker
United States Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare
In office August 3, 1979 – May 4, 1980
President	Jimmy Carter
Preceded by	Joseph Califano
Succeeded by	Position abolished
United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
In office January 23, 1977 – September 10, 1979
President	Jimmy Carter
Preceded by	Carla Hills
Succeeded by	Moon Landrieu
United States Ambassador to Luxembourg
In office September 7, 1965 – September 22, 1967
President	Lyndon Johnson
Preceded by	William Rivkin
Succeeded by	George Feldman
Personal details
Born	Patricia Roberts May 31, 1924 Mattoon, Illinois, U.S.
Died	March 23, 1985 (aged 60) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	William Harris (1955–1984)
Children	Laura Anne Clifton Holland Sarah Blair
Alma mater	Howard University University of Chicago American University George Washington University

Patricia Roberts Harris (May 31, 1924 – March 23, 1985) served in the American administration of President Jimmy Carter as United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and United States Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare (which was renamed the Secretary of Health and Human Services during her tenure). She was the first African American woman to serve in the United States Cabinet, and the first to enter the line of succession to the Presidency. She previously served as United States Ambassador to Luxembourg under President Lyndon B. Johnson, and was the first African-American woman to represent the United States as an ambassador.^[1]

Early life

Roberts was born on May 31, 1924, in Mattoon, Illinois,^[2] the daughter of railroad dining car waiter Bert Fitzgerald Roberts and Hildren Brodie (née Johnson). She graduated summa cum laude from Howard University in 1945.^[3] While at Howard, she was elected Phi Beta Kappa and served as Vice Chairman of the Howard University chapter of the NAACP.^[4] During this time she participated in one of the nation's first lunch counter sit-ins in 1943. There she met William Beasley Harris, a member of the Howard law faculty; they were married on September 1, 1955. She did postgraduate work in industrial relations at the University of Chicago from 1946 to 1949 and at American University in 1949.^[5]

Until 1953, she worked as the Assistant Director of the American Council on Human Rights. She was the first national executive director of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, of which she was a member.^[6] Roberts received her J.D. from the George Washington University National Law Center in 1960, ranking number one out of a class of 94 students.

Career

Harris worked briefly for the U.S. Department of Justice before returning to Howard University in 1961 as an associate dean of students and law lecturer at Howard's law school. In 1963, she was elevated to a full professorship and, in 1969, she was named Dean of Howard University's School of Law, another first for a black woman.^[7] She resigned a month later as Dean of Howard University’s School of Law when Howard University President James E. Cheek refused to support her strong stand against student protests.^[8]

Her first position with the U.S. government was as an attorney in the appeals and research section of the criminal division of the Department of Justice in 1960. There she met and struck up a friendship with Robert Kennedy, the new attorney general. In 1963, President John F. Kennedy appointed her co-chairman of the National Women's Committee for Civil Rights.

In 1964, Harris was elected a delegate to the Democratic National Convention from the District of Columbia. She worked in Lyndon Johnson's presidential campaign and seconded his nomination at the 1964 Democratic Convention. Soon after his victory, President Johnson appointed her Ambassador to Luxembourg from 1965 to 1967. She was the first African American woman named as an American envoy. She said, "I feel deeply proud and grateful this President chose me to knock down this barrier, but also a little sad about being the 'first Negro woman' because it implies we were not considered before."^[9] Following her service as Dean of Howard's School of Law from 1969 to 1972, she joined Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, one of Washington, D.C.'s most prestigious law firms.

Patricia Harris in her swearing-in ceremony (in 1965) to be the U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg.

In 1971, Harris was named to the board of directors of IBM. In addition she served on the boards of Scott Paper Co. and Chase Manhattan Bank.^[10]

She continued making an impact on the Democratic Party when, in 1972, she was appointed chairman of the credentials committee and a member-at-large of the Democratic National Committee in 1973. A testimony to her effectiveness and her commitment to excellence came when President Jimmy Carter appointed her to two cabinet-level posts during his administration.

Harris was appointed to the cabinet of President Jimmy Carter when he took office in 1977. She thus became the first African American woman to enter the Presidential line of succession, at number 13. Between 1977 and 1979 she served as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD),^[3] and in 1979, she became Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare.

After the Department of Education Organization Act came into force on May 4, 1980, the educations functions of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare were transferred to the Department of Education. Harris remained as Secretary of the renamed Department of Health and Human Services until Carter left office in 1981. Because the department had merely changed names, as opposed to disbanding with new department being created, she did not face Senate confirmation again after the change.

Harris unsuccessfully ran for Mayor of Washington, D.C., in 1982, losing the September 14 primary election that year to incumbent mayor Marion Barry. That year, she was appointed a full-time professor at the George Washington National Law Center, a position she served in until her death from breast cancer, on March 23, 1985. She was interred at the Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington, D.C.

References

1. DeLaat, Jacqueline (2000). "Harris, Patricia Roberts". Women in World History, Vol. 7: Harr-I. Waterford, CT: Yorkin Publications. pp. 14–17. ISBN 0-7876-4066-2.
2. Thompson, Kathleen (1994). "Harris, Patricia Roberts (1924–1985)". Black Women in America: An Historical Encyclopedia. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. pp. 539–540. ISBN 0-253-32774-1.
3. Bracks, Lean'tin (2012). African American Almanac: 400 Years of Triumph, Courage and Excellence. Detroit, Michigan: Visible Ink Press. p. 75. ISBN 9781578593231.
4. Taylor, Erica; Show, The Tom Joyner Morning. "Little Known Black History Fact: Patricia Roberts Harris". Black America Web. Retrieved 2016-03-31.
5. American Women Managers and Administrators
6. Notable Deltas
7. "Patricia Roberts Harris Facts, information, pictures | Encyclopedia.com articles about Patricia Roberts Harris". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2016-03-31.
8. "Harris, Patricia Roberts (1924-1985) | The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed". www.blackpast.org. Retrieved 2016-03-31.
9. "Patricia Roberts Harris". diplomacy.state.gov. Retrieved 2016-03-31.
10. "Biography .Com".

External links

• African-American Almanac, "Biography: Patricia Roberts Harris" at the Wayback Machine (archived January 28, 1999)
• Patricia Roberts Harris at Find a Grave
• A&E Biography
• National Women's Hall of Fame biodata for Patricia Roberts Harris
• Patricia Roberts Harris biodata
• The short film STAFF FILM REPORT 66-28A (1966) is available for free download at the Internet Archive