Harris, Patricia Roberts

Harris, Patricia Roberts

▪ American public official
née  Patricia Roberts 
born May 31, 1924, Mattoon, Ill., U.S.
died March 23, 1985, Washington, D.C.

      American public official, the first African American woman named to a U.S. ambassadorship and the first as well to serve in a presidential cabinet.

      Harris grew up in Mattoon and in Chicago. She graduated from Howard University, Washington, D.C., in 1945, pursued graduate studies for two years at the University of Chicago, and from 1946 to 1949 was a program director for the Young Women's Christian Association in Chicago. In 1949 she returned to Washington, D.C., where she did further graduate work at American University and worked as assistant director of the American Council on Human Rights (1949–53). For six years thereafter she was executive director of the national headquarters of Delta Sigma Theta sorority. In 1960 she graduated from the law school at George Washington University and was admitted to the District of Columbia bar. After a year in the criminal division of the U.S. Department of Justice, she became associate dean of students and lecturer in law at Howard University. During 1962–65 she worked with the National Capital Area Civil Liberties Union. Although she relinquished her administrative post at Howard in 1963, she remained on the Howard faculty.

      In 1963 Harris was named cochair, with Mildred McAfee Horton, of the National Women's Committee for Civil Rights. Serving as U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg from 1965 to 1967, she was the first African American woman to hold ambassadorial rank. She rejoined the Howard law faculty from 1967 to 1969. From January 1977 to August 1979, she was secretary of housing and urban development, and she thereafter was secretary of health, education and welfare (later health and human services). She was the first African American woman to be a member of a presidential cabinet.

      In 1981 she returned to George Washington University as a full-time professor of law, and in 1982 she made an unsuccessful bid for mayor of Washington, D.C.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Patricia Roberts Harris — Patricia Harris Patricia Roberts Harris (Geburtsname: Roberts) (* 31. Mai 1924 in Mattoon, Illinois; † 23. März 1985 in Washington D.C.) war eine US amerikanische Botschafterin und Politikerin der Demokratischen …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Patricia Roberts Harris — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Harris. Patricia Roberts Harris Mandats …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Patricia Roberts Harris — (May 31, 1924 ndash; March 23, 1985) served as United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the last United States Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare and the first United States Secretary of Health and Human Services in the… …   Wikipedia

  • Roberts (surname) — Roberts derives from the Saxon/Norman given name Robert, meaning bright fame ndash; from the Germanic elements hrod meaning fame and beraht meaning bright. Robert may also mean Son of Robert .Fact|date=September 2007 The name is common in both… …   Wikipedia

  • Patricia Harris — This article is about Patricia Harris, the First Deputy Mayor of New York City. For the Carter Administration cabinet member, see Patricia Roberts Harris. Patricia Harris is the First Deputy Mayor for the City of New York, with an annual salary… …   Wikipedia

  • Harris — Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom. Harris est un nom anglo saxon. Sommaire 1 Toponyme 2 Patronyme …   Wikipédia en Français

  • List of people with surname Harris — Harris is an English language surname with a variety of spellings.A list of notable people sharing the surname Harris is shown here. Only the Harris spelling is considered here.List of well known people with surname HarrisA* A. J. Harris (born… …   Wikipedia

  • Julia Roberts — en 2011. Nombre real Julia Fiona Roberts Nacimiento 28 de octubre de 1967 (44 años) …   Wikipedia Español

  • Cabinet of President Jimmy Carter — ▪ Table Cabinet of President Jimmy Carter January 20, 1977 January 20, 1981 State Cyrus Vance (Vance, Cyrus) Edmund Sixtus Muskie (from May 8, 1980) Treasury Werner Michael Blumenthal George William Miller (from August 6, 1979) Defense Harold… …   Universalium

  • 2000 New Year Honours — The insignia of the Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George: Andrew Wood was awarded the Grand Cross in this Honours list. The New Year Honours 2000 for the United Kingdom were announced on 31 December 1999, to celebrate the year… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”