Black History Fact
Mon, Mar 23
|United States
Patricia Roberts Harris "Click on RSVP for more Information"
Time & Location
Mar 23, 2026, 12:00 AM – 11:50 PM
United States, United States
About the event
Patricia Roberts Harris began her first cabinet post in the Carter Administration on January 23, 1977 as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
She served in this position until 1979. She was later appointed by President Jimmy Carter as U.S. Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare on July 19, 1979.
She was the first African American woman to become a Cabinet Member, U.S. Ambassador and lead a law school. Harris was born on May 31, 1924 in Mattoon, Illinois.
She graduated summa cum laude from Howard University. While a student at Howard, Harris participated in one of the first restaurant sit-ins.
She received her law degree from George Washington University National Law Center where she was ranked out of a class of 94 students number one.
Harris became the first national executive director of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority in 1953 and served in this position until 1959. She received an appointment by…