By: Ingenue London Patricia Harris

Introduction Patricia Roberts was the first African-American woman to hold a Cabinet position, serve as an ambassador and head a law school. Harris fought for fair housing and employment practices under the Carter Administration as the secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

Background Patricia Roberts Harris was born on May 31, 1924, in Mattoon, Illinois, the daughter of a Pullman car waiter. Raised by her mother after her father left, she excelled at school and won a scholarship to Howard University in 1941. While at Howard, Harris served as vice chairman of the university’s student branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. As a part of the organization’s civil rights efforts, she participated in a protest against a restaurant that only served whites. Harris graduated from Howard in 1945 with honors. She continued her education at the University of Chicago, where she studied industrial relations.

Awards and Achievements She excelled academically and received a scholarship to Howard University. During her time at Howard, Roberts was elected Phi Beta Kappa and graduated Summa Cum Laude in 1945. While she was in college Roberts participated in civil rights protests in Washington, D.C. In 1943, she took part in one of the earliest student sit-ins at a whites-only cafeteria. While at Howard, Roberts served as Assistant Director for the American Council of Human Rights.

Awards and Achievements Continued… Patricia Roberts Harris received a law degree from George Washington University in 1960. She graduated number one in her class and was admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court. Harris worked briefly for the U.S. Department of Justice and was appointed co-chair of the National Women’s Committee for Civil Rights by President John F. Kennedy.

Effects of Achievements Her political career, according to Gerald M. Boyd, writing in the New York Times, was marked by a “series of increasingly prominent positions” in government, and was a result of Harris’s combination of “hard work with shrewd political sense.”

Personal Opinion I feel as if Patricia Harris is a great a role model and that she opened a door way for all African American women. She rose above expectations while being a woman and black.

Sources http://www.biography.com/people/patricia-roberts-harris-205630 http://www.blackpast.org/aah/harris-patricia-roberts-1924-1985 http://www.encyclopedia.com/people/history/us-history-biographies/patricia-roberts-harris