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Patricia Roberts Harris (May 31, 1924 – March 23, 1985) was an American politician, diplomat, and legal scholar. She served as the 6th United States secretary of housing and urban development from 1977 to 1979 and as the 13th United States secretary of health and human services [a] from 1979 to 1981 under President Jimmy Carter.
Mar 2, 2021 · Patricia Roberts Harris was an ever relentless woman who broke down barriers for Black women across the country. Her life was defined by a list of firsts as well as her incredible resilience and humility.
May 27, 2024 · Patricia Roberts Harris (born May 31, 1924, Mattoon, Ill., U.S.—died March 23, 1985, Washington, D.C.) was an 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.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Patricia Roberts Harris was dedicated to public service, civil rights and the promotion of social justice. A woman of many firsts, she was the first Black woman to serve the nation as Ambassador, the first Black woman to become dean of a law school, and the first Black woman to serve in a Presidential cabinet.
Patricia Roberts Harris' life is a powerful chapter in our American story. "I am one of them…," she said at her 1977 hearing to become HUD Secretary. Those words underscored her commitment to social justice and her sense of responsibility to the African American community and to the nation.
Mar 19, 2007 · Harris persuaded her critics and became the first African American woman to direct a Federal department. In 1980, Harris was appointed Secretary of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW). Two years later, Patricia Roberts Harris was selected as a permanent professor at the George Washington National Law Center.
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First African American woman to serve as an Ambassador. Role/Rank. Ambassador. Patricia Roberts showed a drive for excellence from a young age. Raised by her mother in Illinois, she received five scholarship offers to college and chose Howard University in Washington, DC. In 1945, she graduated summa cum laude.
