Harris, Patricia, 1924-1985

Patricia Roberts Harris (May 31, 1924 – March 23, 1985) was an American academic, government official, and diplomat. The first African American woman to serve in the United States Cabinet, she previously served as United States Ambassador to Luxembourg under President Lyndon B. Johnson, and was the first African-American woman to represent the United States as an ambassador. She was also the first Black American woman to be dean of a law school, and the first to sit on a Fortune 500 company's board of directors.

Born in Mattoon, Illinois and raised in Chicago, Illinois, she attended public schools in Chicago. After earning scholarships to five different colleges, Roberts selected Howard University, from which she graduated, summa cum laude. She did graduate work in industrial relations at the University of Chicago from 1946 to 1949. In order to be better involved in civil rights work, she transferred to American University in 1949. While studying in Chicago, Roberts was a program director for the Young Women’s Christian Association. 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. After marrying in 1955, Harris was beginning to pursue a career in education, but saw limited opportunity because of segregation. Her husband encouraged her to go to law school, and she received her J.D. from the George Washington University National Law Center in 1960, ranking number one out of a class of ninety-four students. Harris passed the bar exam the same year and began working as an attorney in the appeals and research section of the criminal division of the U.S. Department of Justice.

One year later, Harris took a job as a lecturer and the Associate Dean of Students at Howard University. In 1963 she ceased her role as Dean, but stayed on as a lecturer. Concurrently, from 1962 to 1965, she worked with the National Capital Area Civil Liberties Union. As her skills as an organizer bloomed, Harris also became increasingly involved in the Democratic Party. In 1963 she was elevated to a full professorship at Howard, and President John F. Kennedy appointed her co-chairman of the National Women's Committee for Civil Rights. In October 1965, President Johnson appointed her Ambassador to Luxembourg, a role she served in for two years. She was the first African American woman named as an American envoy. In 1967, Harris returned to the faculty of the Howard University's School of Law, where she was named Dean in 1969, another first for a black woman. She resigned as Dean a month later when Howard University President James E. Cheek refused to support her strong stand against student protests. She then joined Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, one of Washington, D.C.'s most prestigious law firms.

Harris was appointed to the cabinet of President Jimmy Carter as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) when Carter took office in 1977. Once confirmed, Harris became the first African American woman to enter the Presidential line of succession, being 13th in line for the Presidency. She served as HUD Secretary from 1977 to 1979, 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. s a result of her success leading HUD, Carter appointed Harris as the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, the largest Cabinet agency, in 1979. After the Department of Education Organization Act came into force on May 4, 1980, the department's education functions were transferred to the Department of Education. Harris remained as Secretary of the renamed Department of Health and Human Services until Carter left office in 1981. During her tenure with the Department, Harris faced several budget crises and refreshed the management team.

In 1981, Harris was appointed a full-time professor at the George Washington University Law School; she remained on the faculty until her death in 1985. Harris ran unsuccessfully for Mayor of Washington, D.C. in 1982, losing the September 14 primary election to incumbent mayor Marion Barry. Harris died of breast cancer in Washington, D.C. and was interred at the Rock Creek Cemetery there.