Mink, Patsy T. (Patsy Takemoto), 1927-2002
Name Entries
person
Mink, Patsy T. (Patsy Takemoto), 1927-2002
Computed Name Heading
Name Components
Surname :
Mink
Forename :
Patsy T.
NameExpansion :
Patsy Takemoto
Date :
1927-2002
eng
Latn
authorizedForm
rda
Takemoto, Patsy Matsu, 1927-2002
Computed Name Heading
Name Components
Surname :
Takemoto
Forename :
Patsy Matsu
Date :
1927-2002
eng
Latn
alternativeForm
rda
Genders
Female
Exist Dates
Biographical History
Patsy Matsu Takemoto Mink (December 6, 1927 – September 28, 2002) was an American attorney and politician from the U.S. state of Hawaii. Mink was a third-generation Japanese American, having been born and raised on the island of Maui. After graduating as valedictorian of the Maui High School class in 1944, she attended the University of Hawaii at Mānoa for two years and subsequently enrolled at the University of Nebraska, where she experienced racism and worked to have segregation policies eliminated. After illness forced her to return to Hawaii to complete her studies there, she applied to 12 medical schools to continue her education but was rejected by all of them. Following a suggestion by her employer, she opted to study law and was accepted at the University of Chicago Law School in 1948. While at university, she met and married a graduate student, John Francis Mink. When they graduated in 1951, Patsy Mink was unable to find employment as a married, Asian woman, and after the birth of their daughter in 1952 the couple moved to Hawaii.
When she was refused the right to take the bar examination, due to the loss of her Hawaiian territorial residency upon marriage, Mink challenged the sexist statute. Though she won the right to take the test and passed the examination, she could not find public or private employment because she was married and had a child. Mink's father helped her open her own practice in 1953 and around the same time she became a member of the Democratic Party. Hoping to work legislatively to change discriminatory customs through law, she worked as an attorney for the Hawaiian territorial legislature in 1955. The following year, she ran for a seat in the territorial House of Representatives. Winning the race, she became the first Japanese-American woman to serve in the territorial House and two years later, the first woman to serve in the territorial Senate, when she won her campaign for the higher house. In 1960, Mink gained national attention when she spoke in favor of the civil rights platform at the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles.
In 1964, Mink ran for federal office and won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. She was the first woman of color and the first Asian-American woman elected to Congress, and also the first woman elected to Congress from the state of Hawaii. She served a total of 12 terms (24 years), split between 1965-77 representing Hawaii's at-large and second congressional district from 1990-2002. While in Congress in the late 1960s, she introduced the first comprehensive initiatives under the Early Childhood Education Act, which included the first federal child-care bill and worked on the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. In 1970, she became the first person to oppose a Supreme Court nominee on the basis of discrimination against women. Mink initiated a lawsuit which led to significant changes to presidential authority under the Freedom of Information Act in 1971. In 1972, she co-authored the Title IX Amendment of the Higher Education Act, later renamed the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act in 2002.
Mink was the first East Asian-American woman to seek the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party. She ran in the 1972 election, entering the Oregon primary as an anti-war candidate. She was the federal Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs from 1977 to 1979. From 1980 to 1982, Mink served as the president of Americans for Democratic Action and then returned to Honolulu, where she was elected to the Honolulu City Council, which she chaired until 1985. In 1990, she was again elected to the U.S. House, serving until her death in 2002. During her second six terms in office, she continued to work on legislation of importance to women, children, immigrants, and minorities.
eng
Latn
External Related CPF
https://id.loc.gov/authorities/n77007280
https://catalog.archives.gov/id/10580944
https://viaf.org/viaf/65253631
https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q399235
https://www.worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n77007280
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Languages Used
eng
Latn
Subjects
Education
Education
Education
Education
Asian Americans
Asian American women
Asian American women
Child care
Child care
Civil rights
Civil rights
Consumers
Consumers
Discrimination in education
Discrimination in education
Draft
Draft
Emigration and immigration
Emigration and immigration
Environmental policy
Environmental policy
Environmental protection
Hawaiians
Historic sites
Historic sites
Japanese Americans
Labor
Labor
Legislators
Legislators
Medical care
Medical care
Military bases
Military bases
National parks and reserves
National parks and reserves
Nuclear weapons
Poverty
Poverty
Practice of law
Practice of law
Public welfare
Public welfare
Race discrimination
Race discrimination
Sex discrimination
Sex discrimination
Sex discrimination in sports
Sex discrimination in sports
Sports for women
Sports for women
Strip mining
Vietnam War, 1961-1975
Women
Women
Women
Women
Women
Women
Women
Women in politics
Women legislators
Women legislators
Women's rights
Women's rights
Women's rights
Women's rights
Nationalities
Americans
Activities
Occupations
City council members
Federal Government Appointee
Lawyers
Professors (teacher)
Public officials
Representatives, U.S. Congress
State Representative
State Senator
Legal Statuses
Places
Chicago
IL, US
AssociatedPlace
Residence
Lincoln
NE, US
AssociatedPlace
Residence
Honolulu
HI, US
AssociatedPlace
Death
Maui County
HI, US
AssociatedPlace
Birth
Chambersburg
PA, US
AssociatedPlace
Residence
Convention Declarations
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