Elected in 1964, Patsy T. Mink was sworn in on January 4, 1965,
as the first Asian – American woman and first woman of color
to serve in the U.S. Congress.

Throughout her career, the U.S. representative for Hawaii was
a strong supporter of civil and women’s rights, as well as an
advocate for children, labor unions and education.

Serving as a member of the Committee for Education and Labor,
Mink was vocal in her opposition to the Vietnam War and was
a supporter of a national daycare system, Head Start and the
Women’s Educational Equity Act.

She was again elected to Congress in 1990, serving until her
death at age 74 in 2002. Soon after her death, Title IX was
renamed the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education
Act.         


    
    
    
    
       
        
       

1972

Patsy Matsu Mink (December 6, 1927 – September 28, 2002)

                  
ROSS SIMPSON

On November 7, 1916, Montana suffragist Jeannette Rankin 
was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. She is the
first woman in the history of the nation to win a seat in the
federal Congress.

Jeannette Pickering Rankin (June 11, 1880 – May 18, 1973)

On September 30, 1822, Joseph Marion Hernández became
the first person of Hispanic descent to be elected to the
United States Congress.

Born a Spanish citizen, Hernández would die in Cuba, but in
between he became the first Hispanic American to serve at
the highest levels of any of three branches of the American
federal government.

Hernández later served as Mayor of St. Augustine before
retiring to Cuba, where he died in 1857.