Patricia Roberts Harris | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 13thUnited States Secretary of Health and Human Services[a] | |
| In office August 3, 1979 – January 20, 1981 | |
| President | Jimmy Carter |
| Preceded by | Joseph A. Califano Jr. (Health, Education, and Welfare) |
| Succeeded by | Richard Schweiker (Health and Human Services) Shirley Hufstedler (Education) |
| 6thUnited States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development | |
| In office January 23, 1977 – September 10, 1979 | |
| President | Jimmy Carter |
| Preceded by | Carla Anderson Hills |
| Succeeded by | Moon Landrieu |
| United States Ambassador to Luxembourg | |
| In office September 7, 1965 – September 22, 1967 | |
| President | Lyndon B. Johnson |
| Preceded by | William R. Rivkin |
| Succeeded by | George J. Feldman |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Patricia Roberts (1924-05-31)May 31, 1924 Mattoon, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | March 23, 1985(1985-03-23) (aged 60) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Resting place | Rock Creek Cemetery Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | |
| Education | Howard University (BA) University of Chicago American University (MS) George Washington University (JD) |
Patricia Roberts Harris (May 31, 1924 – March 23, 1985) was an American politician, diplomat, and legal scholar. She served as the 6thUnited States secretary of housing and urban development from 1977 to 1979 and as the 13thUnited States secretary of health and human services[a] from 1979 to 1981 under PresidentJimmy Carter.
Born and raised inIllinois, She previously served as theUnited States ambassador to Luxembourg from 1965 to 1967 under PresidentLyndon B. Johnson. Throughout her public career, Harris was a trailblazer for women andpeople of color to hold a number of positions, including the first African American woman and woman of color ever to serve in apresidential cabinet and the first woman and person of color appointed to two different presidential cabinet positions. She was the first African American HHS secretary and just the second black HUD secretary, as well as the second woman to lead either of thoseexecutive departments. Furthermore, she was the first black womanU.S. ambassador, the dean of a U.S. law school, and a member of aFortune 500 company's board of directors. A member of theDemocratic Party, she ran formayor of the District of Columbia in the1982 mayoral election but was defeated during the primaries, ultimately finishing second to incumbent mayorMarion Barry.[1][2][3][4][5][6]
Patricia Roberts was born on May 31, 1924, inMattoon, Illinois,[7] the daughter of railroad dining car waiter Bert Fitzgerald Roberts and Hildren Brodie (née Johnson).[1][8][9] She had one younger brother, Malcolm, known to his family as Mickey.[8] Her parents separated when she was 6 years old, after which she was raised primarily by her mother and grandmother, attending public school inChicago.[8][1]
After earning scholarships to five different colleges, Roberts selectedHoward University, from which she graduated,summa cum laude, in 1945.[10][4] While at Howard, she was electedPhi Beta Kappa and served as Vice Chairman of the Howard University chapter of the NAACP.[11][12] During her time at Howard University, she was also a member ofDelta Sigma Theta — a historically Black sorority that had been founded at Patricia's alma mater in 1913.[13] In 1943, she participated in one of the nation's first lunch counter sit-ins.[14][8] She did graduate work inindustrial relations at theUniversity of Chicago from 1946 to 1949.[15][1] In order to be better involved in civil rights work, she transferred toAmerican University in 1949, where she would ultimately receive her Master's Degree.[13][16][1]
After marrying in 1955, Harris was beginning to pursue a career in education, but saw limited opportunity because of segregation.[8] Her husband encouraged her to go to law school,[8] and she received herJ.D. from theGeorge Washington University National Law Center in 1960, ranking number one out of a class of ninety-four students.[14][4] She passed the bar exam the same year.[2]
In 1965, Harris was honored in absentia with the Alumni Achievement Award of George Washington University Law School.[17]
While studying in Chicago, Roberts was a program director for theYoung Women's Christian Association.[2][18] While at American University, she concurrently worked as the Assistant Director of the American Council on Human Rights, beginning in 1949 and staying until 1953.[1][2] Her first position with the U.S. government was in 1960 as an attorney in the appeals and research section of the criminal division of theU.S. Department of Justice.[8][2] There she met and struck up a friendship withRobert F. Kennedy, the new attorney general.[6]
One year later, Harris took a job as a lecturer and the Associate Dean of Students at Howard University.[2] In 1963, she ceased her role as Dean, but stayed on as a lecturer.[2] Concurrently, from 1962–65, she worked with the National Capital Area Civil Liberties Union.[2] As her skills as an organizer bloomed, Harris also became increasingly involved in theDemocratic Party.[1] In 1963, she was elevated to a full professorship at Howard, and PresidentJohn F. Kennedy appointed her co-chairman of the National Women's Committee for Civil Rights, described as an "umbrella organization encompassing some 100 women's groups throughout the nation."[19][1][2] Her co-chair wasMildred McAfee Horton.[2]
In 1964, Harris was elected a delegate to theDemocratic National Convention from theDistrict of Columbia. She worked inLyndon Johnson's presidential campaign and seconded his nomination at the1964 Democratic Convention. In October 1965, President Johnson appointed herAmbassador to Luxembourg, a role she served in until the end of the Johnson administration.[1] She was the first African American woman named as an American envoy.[1][2][4] She said of her appointment, "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."[4] Additionally, Johnson named her as alternate delegate to theUnited Nations General Assembly for the years 1966-68.[4]
In 1967, Harris returned to the faculty ofHoward University's School of Law, where she was named Dean in 1969, another first for a Black woman.[5] She resigned as Dean a month later when Howard University PresidentJames E. Cheek refused to support her strong stand against student protests.[20] She then joinedFried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, one ofWashington, D.C.'s most prestigious law firms.[4]
In 1971, Harris was named to the board of directors ofIBM,[6] becoming the first Black American woman to sit on a Fortune 500 company's board of directors.[6] In addition, she served on the boards ofScott Paper, theNational Bank of Washington, andChase Manhattan Bank.[21][22] Upon her appointment to the Chase Manhattan board, she observed: "The demands on the small pool of Blacks allowed to develop in the last 300 years is too great. What has to happen is that this pool must be increased, and that's something that big corporations can help to do. I'm a first on many boards, but I'm not going to be content to remain the only Black, or the only woman."[22]
Harris continued making an impact on the Democratic Party when, in 1972, she was appointed chairman of the credentials committee[14] and, in 1973, a member-at-large of theDemocratic National Committee.[1][23] PresidentJimmy Carter appointed her to two cabinet-level posts during his administration.
Harris was appointed to thecabinet of PresidentJimmy Carter asSecretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) when Carter took office in 1977.[1] At her confirmation hearing, SenatorWilliam Proxmire questioned whether Harris came from a background of too much wealth and power to be an effective HUD Secretary. She responded, "I am a Black woman, the daughter of a Pullman (railroad) car waiter. I am a Black woman who even eight years ago could not buy a house in parts of the District of Columbia. I didn't start out as a member of a prestigious law firm, but as a woman who needed a scholarship to go to school. If you think I have forgotten that, you are wrong."[24] Otherwise, her confirmation went smoothly.[6] By this time in Harris' life, she had established herself as not only a recognized leader for civil rights, but also as a prominent corporate lawyer and businesswoman.[19] Once confirmed, Harris became the first African American woman to enter thePresidential line of succession.[1] She served as HUD Secretary from 1977 to 1979,[10] reorganizing the department and shifting from knocking down slums to rehabilitating the neighborhoods through millions of dollars of funding and her Neighborhood Strategy Program for rebuilding, Urban Development Action Grants for luring businesses back into cities, and an expanded Urban Homesteading Plan.[1]The Washington Post, looking back at her reforms several years later, noted: "[A]fter two years as secretary, the agency had changed from a mere extension of the nation's housing industry to an advocate for saving inner cities."[18]
As a result of her success leading HUD, Carter appointed Harris as theSecretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, the largest Cabinet agency, in 1979.[24] Once again, the confirmation process was easy.[6] After theDepartment of Education Organization Act came into force on May 4, 1980, the department's education functions were transferred to theDepartment of Education. Harris remained as Secretary of the renamedDepartment of Health and Human Services until Carter left office in 1981. Because the department had merely changed names, as opposed to disbanding with a new department being created, she did not face Senate confirmation again after the change. During her tenure with the Department, Harris faced several budget crises and refreshed the management team.[18]
Harris offered a number of critiques of her own work in these cabinet positions, including that enforcement of civil rights fell off while she was head of HHS, that Congress called her responses to requests for policy changes that would lower health care costs sluggish, and that many of her programs ended up doing little for her hometown of Washington, D.C.[18]
On the other hand,Office of Management and Budget Associate Director Dennis Green described her approach as "tough-minded, intelligent, quick to grasp the intricacies of her agency, and she went after what she wanted."[18]
In 1981, Harris was appointed a full-time professor at theGeorge Washington University Law School.[2][14] She remained on the faculty until her death in 1985.[9]
Harris ran unsuccessfully forMayor of Washington, D.C., in 1982, losing theSeptember 14 primary election to incumbent mayorMarion Barry.[14] Among several factors leading to the loss, including her brusque, no-nonsense means of communication, some scholars have listed that Washington, D.C., had never elected a female mayor.[6] However, the city's first female mayor,Sharon Pratt (1991–95), cut her teeth as Harris' campaign manager for her mayoral race.[6][25]
During her tenure at the American Council on Human Rights, Harris first met William Beasley Harris, then a member of the Howard law faculty and later a federal Maritime Commission administrative judge.[8] They began dating in 1955, and were married on September 1, 1955.[8]
Harris was a member ofDelta Sigma Theta sorority and served for six years as its first national executive director.[2][15]
In 1967,Lord Snowdon photographed Harris at the United Nations forVogue.[8] In her spare time, Harris enjoyed cooking and baking.[8]
Harris's husband died in November 1984.[14] She died ofbreast cancer at age 60 on March 23, 1985.[14] She was interred at theRock Creek Cemetery in Washington, D.C.
Upon her death, Harris endowed the Patricia Roberts Harris Public Affairs Fellowship to enable Howard University students to undertake domestic and international public affairs internships.[26] Established in 1987, the program provides a stipend for a summer internship, along with mentoring, academic, and service learning opportunities; it has so far served over 200 Fellows.[26][27][28]
On January 27, 2000, theUnited States Postal Service's released its 23rd commemorative stamp in its Black Heritage Series, honoring Harris.[1][29] The stamp was designed by Richard Sheaff of Scottsdale, Arizona, and 150 million copies were produced in recognition ofBlack History Month.[1][29] Additionally, in 2003, Harris was inducted into theNational Women's Hall of Fame.[5]
| Diplomatic posts | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | United States Ambassador to Luxembourg 1965–1967 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development 1977–1979 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | United States Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare 1979–1980 | Succeeded by Herself as United States Secretary of Health and Human Services |
| Succeeded byasUnited States Secretary of Education | ||
| Preceded by Herself as United States Secretary of Health and Human Services | United States Secretary of Health and Human Services 1980–1981 | Succeeded by |
| Health, education, and welfare |   | |
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| Health and human services | ||
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| Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary | |
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| Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | |
| International | |
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| National | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
