Meek, Carrie P. (Carrie Pittman), 1926-2021

MEEK, Carrie P., a Representative from Florida; born in Tallahassee, Leon County, Fla., April 29, 1926; B.S., Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, Fla., 1946; M.S., University of Michigan, 1948; educational administrator; educational consultant; board member, Health System-Health Planning Council, 1972-1975; chair, city of Miami, Fla., Park for People Program, 1973-1974; board member, Minority Business Enterprise Committee on Transportation, 1978-1979; member of the Florida state house of representatives, 1979-1983; member of the Florida state senate, 1983-1993; elected as a Democrat to the One Hundred Third and to the four succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1993-January 3, 2003); not a candidate for reelection to the One Hundred Eighth Congress in 2002.

<p>Former Congresswoman Carrie Meek was born on April 29, 1926, in Tallahassee, Florida. The granddaughter of a slave and the daughter of former sharecroppers, she spent her childhood in segregated Tallahassee. Meek graduated from Florida A&M University in 1946. At this time, African Americans could not attend graduate school in Florida, so Meek traveled north to continue her studies and graduated from the University of Michigan with an M.S. in 1948.</p>

<p>After graduation, Meek was hired as a teacher at Bethune Cookman College in Daytona Beach, Florida, and then at her alma matter, Florida A&M University. Meek moved to Miami in 1961 to serve as special assistant to the vice president of Miami-Dade Community College. The school was desegregated in 1963 and Meek played a central role in pushing for integration. Throughout her years as an educator, Meek was also active in community projects in the Miami area.</p>

<p>Elected as a Florida state representative in 1979, Meek was the first African American female elected to the Florida State Senate in 1982. As a state senator, Meek served on the Education Appropriations Subcommittee. Her efforts in the legislature also led to the construction of thousands of affordable rental housing units.</p>

<p>In 1992 Carrie P. Meek won election to the United States House of Representatives becoming one of the first African-American lawmakers to represent Florida in Congress since Reconstruction. Focusing on economic development and immigration issues important to her district, Meek secured a coveted seat on the House Appropriations Committee as a first-term lawmaker. In the House, Meek worked across the aisle on health care reform and sharply resisted welfare reform efforts during the mid-1990s.</p>

<p>Carrie Meek was born Carrie Pittman on April 29, 1926, in Tallahassee, Florida, the daughter of Willie and Carrie Pittman, and the granddaughter of a woman who had been born enslaved. Meek’s parents were sharecroppers; her father later became a caretaker and her mother a laundress and the owner of a boarding house. Nicknamed “Tot” by her siblings, Meek was the youngest of 12 children and lived with her family near the old Florida capitol in a neighborhood called the “Bottom.” As a young girl, Meek participated in the Girl Scouts. When the group went to deliver brownies to the state capitol, Meek was barred from entering because of her race. She waited on the sidewalk while her white peers walked in the front door.</p>

<p>In college, Meek starred in track and field while earning a BA in biology and physical education at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee in 1946. Florida banned Black students from attending state graduate schools, so Meek enrolled at the University of Michigan. The state government would pay her out-of-state tuition “if we agreed to get out of Dodge,” she later recalled. She graduated in 1948 with a master’s degree in public health and physical education.</p>

<p>Former Rep. Carrie Meek, who broke barriers throughout her winding political career as the daughter of a sharecropper and granddaughter of a slave, died Sunday in her Miami home. She was 95.</p>

<p>Meek's death came after a "long illness," family spokesperson Adam Sharon said in a statement describing the late Florida Democrat's "trailblazing" life and legacy.</p>

<p>Following her congressional career, Meek shifted her focus to the Carrie Meek Foundation, which worked to provide the Miami-Dade community with jobs and opportunities, according to the statement provided by Sharon. She ran the foundation's operations until 2015 when "declining health" forced her step down.</p>

<p>Carrie Pittman Meek (April 29, 1926 – November 28, 2021) is a Democratic politician from the U.S. state of Florida. She served in the United States House of Representatives from 1993 to 2003, representing Florida's 17th congressional district.</p>

<p>Meek was born and raised in Tallahassee, Florida. She graduated from Lincoln High School. She remained in north Florida for college and graduated from Florida A&M University (then known as Florida A&M College for Negroes) in 1946. At this time, African Americans could not attend graduate school in Florida, so Meek enrolled in the University of Michigan and received her M.S. degree in 1948. After graduation, Meek was hired as a teacher at Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Florida, and then at her alma mater, Florida A&M University. Meek moved to Miami in 1961 to serve as special assistant to the vice president of Miami-Dade Community College. The college was desegregated in 1963, largely due to Meek's integral role in the push for its integration. Throughout her years as an educator, Meek was also active in community projects in the Miami area.</p>

<p>When state representative Gwen Cherry, Florida's first woman African American legislator, died in a car crash in 1979, Meek decided to run in the special election to succeed her. She was elected to the Florida House as a Democrat, and served until 1982. As a state representative, she introduced a bill criminalizing stalking.</p>

<p>In 1982, Meek ran for a newly drawn state senate seat based in northern Dade County and became the first African American woman elected to the Florida Senate. As a state senator, Meek served on the Education Appropriations Subcommittee. Her efforts in the Legislature also led to the construction of thousands of affordable rental housing units.</p>

<p>In 1992, a court-ordered congressional redistricting plan drew three districts with a substantial African American population, designed to elect black candidates of choice to comply with the federal Voting Rights Act. Meek ran for one of those seats, the 17th district, which was based in northern Dade County. Along with Corrine Brown and Alcee Hastings, Meek became the first black member of Congress from Florida since Reconstruction.</p>