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Article: This week in Black history.(United States. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Patricia Roberts Harris)(Jack Johnson)
- Article from:
- Jet
- Article date:
- December 24, 2007
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 Johnson Publishing Co. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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December 21, 1976--
Patricia Roberts Harris, educator, lawyer and diplomat, was named Secretary of Housing and Urban Development by President Jimmy Carter on this day. She was the first Black woman to hold a presidential Cabinet post. In 1979, Carter appointed her secretary of the U.S. Dept. of Health, Education and Welfare. Later that year, Congress established a separate U.S. Dept. of Education, which she headed until 1981. A native of Mattoon, IL, Harris earned a bachelor's degree at Howard University and graduated summa cum laude. In 1960, she graduated from George Washington University's National Law Center. Harris became ...