Patsy Mink

Hawaii representative who was the first woman of color elected to Congress and a co-author of Title IX.

Overview

Mink was elected to the House in 1964, becoming the first woman of color and the first Asian American woman to serve in Congress. She championed education, child care, and equal opportunity, and was a principal author of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which barred sex discrimination in federally funded education and transformed women's athletics. After an unsuccessful Senate bid she served as an assistant secretary of state under Jimmy Carter, then returned to the House in 1990 and served until her death in 2002. Congress renamed Title IX the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act in her honor.