Yvonne Burke
Member of theLos Angeles County Board of Supervisors
In office December 8, 1992 – December 1, 2008
Preceded by	Kenneth Hahn
Succeeded by	Mark Ridley-Thomas
Constituency	2nd district
In office January 3, 1979 – December 2, 1980
Preceded by	James A. Hayes
Succeeded by	Deane Dana
Constituency	4th district
LA County positions Chair of Los Angeles County In office December 4, 2007 – December 2, 2008 Preceded by Zev Yaroslavsky Succeeded by Don Knabe In office December 3, 2002 – December 2, 2003 Preceded by Zev Yaroslavsky Succeeded by Don Knabe In office December 3, 1997 – December 2, 1998 Preceded by Zev Yaroslavsky Succeeded by Don Knabe In office December 7, 1993 – December 6, 1994 Preceded by Edmund D. Edelman Succeeded by Gloria Molina
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromCalifornia
In office January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1979
Preceded by	Constituency established
Succeeded by	Julian Dixon
Constituency	37th district (1973–1975) 28th district (1975–1979)
Member of theCalifornia State Assembly from the63rd district
In office January 2, 1967 – January 3, 1973
Preceded by	Don Allen
Succeeded by	Julian Dixon
Personal details
Born	Perle Yvonne Watson (1932-10-05)October 5, 1932 (age 93) Los Angeles,California, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouses	Louis Brathwaite ​ ​ (m. 1957; div. 1964)​ William Burke ​ (m. 1972)​
Children	Autumn and 1 stepdaughter
Education	University of California, Berkeley University of California, Los Angeles (BA) University of Southern California (JD)

Yvonne Pearl Burke (néeWatson, laterBrathwaite; born October 5, 1932) is an American politician and lawyer fromCalifornia.^[1][2] She was the first African-American woman to represent theWest Coast in Congress. She served in the U.S. Congress from 1973 to 1979. She represented the 2nd District on theLos Angeles County Board of Supervisors from 1992 to 2008.^[3] She served asChair of Los Angeles County four times and served as chair pro tem three times.

In 1973, she became the first member of the U.S. Congress to give birth while in office, and she was the first person to be granted maternity leave by the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.

She served on the Board of Directors ofAmtrak, having been appointed to the position by PresidentBarack Obama in 2012 and retired in 2024.

Perle Yvonne Watson was born on October 5, 1932, inLos Angeles as the only child of James A. Watson and the former Lola Moore.^[4][5]

After first attending a public school, she was sent to a model school for exceptional children.^[1] AtManual Arts High School she was a member of the debate team and served as vice president of the Latin Club her junior year and girls' vice president in her senior year.^[6]

Burke attended theUniversity of California, Berkeley from c. 1949 to 1951 before receiving a bachelor's degree in political science from theUniversity of California, Los Angeles in 1953.^[7] She subsequently earned aJ.D. degree from theUniversity of Southern California Law School in 1956.^[8] Burke is one of the first black women to be admitted to the University of Southern California Law School.^[1]

Her first entry into the world of politics was when she worked as a volunteer for the reelection of PresidentLyndon B. Johnson in 1964.^[9] She was elected to theCalifornia State Assembly in 1966, representing Los Angeles' 63rd District (1966–1972).^[10] Many of her early legislative efforts centered around juvenile issues and limiting garnishment of wages.

She served as vice-chairperson of the1972 Democratic National Convention.^[11] She was the first African American and the first woman of color to hold that position, and presided for about fourteen hours when the chair left the convention on its last day.^[12][13]

That same year, she was elected to the first of three terms in theU.S. House of Representatives.

During her tenure in Congress, she served on theHouse Select Committee on Assassinations,House Beauty Shop Committee, and theHouse Committee on Appropriations; during her tenure on the Appropriations Committee, she fought for increased funding to aid local jurisdictions to comply with desegregation mandates^[11]

In 1973, with the birth of her daughterAutumn, Burke became the first member of Congress to give birth while in office and the first to be granted maternity leave by theSpeaker of the United States House of Representatives.^[1][11]

She did not seek re-election to Congress in 1978, but insteadran forAttorney General of California. She lost to RepublicanGeorge Deukmejian.^[14]

In 1979, shortly after she left Congress, GovernorJerry Brown appointed Burke to the Board ofRegents of the University of California; but she resigned later that year when Governor Brown appointed her to fill a vacancy in the District 4 seat on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. Burke was the first female and first African-American supervisor. Her district, however, was largely made up of affluent, conservative white areas on the coast. In 1980, Burke was defeated in her bid for a full term in the seat by RepublicanDeane Dana. In 1982, Brown again appointed her to the Regents.^{[citation needed]}

In 1992, Burke ran for the District 2 seat on the L.A. County Board of Supervisors. The primary election was held in June, 1992, just weeks after the1992 Los Angeles Riots.^[15] After a hard-fought campaign that often turned negative, Burke narrowly defeated State SenatorDiane Watson.

In 2007, Burke announced that she would retire when her term expired in 2008. On July 27, 2007, theLos Angeles Times published a front-page story revealing that she was not living in the mostly low-income district she represented, but rather in the wealthyBrentwood neighborhood, an apparent violation of state law. Burke responded that she was living at her Brentwood mansion because the townhouse she listed in official political filings was being remodeled.^[16]

On March 29, 2012, she was nominated by PresidentBarack Obama to serve on theAmtrak Board of Directors. Confirmed by theU.S. Senate, she held a seat on that board until 2024.^[17][18]

In 1957 she married Louis Brathwaite, divorcing in 1964.^[1] She married William A. Burke in Los Angeles on June 14, 1972, just days after she won a Congressional primary againstBilly Mills, aLos Angeles City Council member for whom William Burke had worked. William Burke is also the creator of theLos Angeles Marathon.^[19] Their daughterAutumn Burke was born on November 23, 1973.^[4][5][20] Yvonne and Autumn are the first mother-and-daughter to both serve in theCalifornia Assembly.^[21]

Burke is a member ofAlpha Kappa Alpha sorority.^[14]

Burke is a Fellow of theNational Academy of Public Administration.^[22]

• Women in the United States House of Representatives
• List of African-American United States representatives

• "Yvonne Brathwaite Burke",Africana: The Encyclopedia.
• Ebony (September 1967). "Women Who Make State Laws": pp. 27–34.
• Gray, Pamela Lee. "Yvonne Brathwaite Burke: The Congressional Career of California's First Black Congresswoman, 1972–1978." Ph.D. diss., University of Southern California, 1987.

• United States Congress."Yvonne Brathwaite Burke (id: B001102)".Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Yvonne Burke's oral history video excerpts at The National Visionary Leadership Project
• Appearances onC-SPAN
• Join California Yvonne Brathwaite Burke

• 1932 births
• 20th-century African-American politicians
• 20th-century African-American women politicians
• 20th-century American women politicians
• 20th-century members of the California State Legislature
• 20th-century United States representatives
• 21st-century African-American politicians
• 21st-century African-American women politicians
• 21st-century American politicians
• 21st-century American women politicians
• African-American United States representatives
• African-American state legislators in California
• Amtrak people
• Candidates in the 1978 United States elections
• Female United States representatives
• Jones Day people
• Living people
• Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
• Democratic Party members of the California State Assembly
• Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from California
• People from Brentwood, Los Angeles
• Politicians from Los Angeles
• University of California, Los Angeles alumni
• USC Gould School of Law alumni
• Women state legislators in California

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