Patsy Takemoto Mink

Patsy Takemoto Mink (1927–2002) was an attorney and politician from Hawaii and the first woman of color and the first Asian American woman elected to the U.S. Congress. She served in the United States House of Representatives for twenty-four years as a member of the Democratic Party, from 1965–1977 and again from 1990 until her death in 2002. She is known for her legislation advancing women’s rights and education.

Born on the island of Maui, she was educated at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa (B.A. in zoology and chemistry, 1948), the University of Nebraska, and the University of Chicago Law School (J.D., 1951). She challenged a discriminatory statute that prevented her from taking the Hawaii bar examination after her marriage, which caused her to lose her Hawaiian territorial residency. She successfully overturned the statute and worked as an attorney for the Hawaiian territorial legislature in 1955. The following year, she ran for a seat in the territorial House of Representatives and became the first Japanese American woman to serve in the territorial House. Two years later, she was the first woman to serve in the territorial Senate. In 1960, Mink gained national attention when she spoke in favor of the civil rights platform at the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles. In 1962, she was elected to the new Hawaii State Senate and became the first Asian American woman to serve in a state legislature in the United States. 

Mink served twelve terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. She introduced the first comprehensive initiatives under the Early Childhood Education Act, which included the first federal childcare bill, and worked on the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. In 1972, she co-authored the Title IX Amendment of the Higher Education Act, later renamed in 2002 the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act. In 1994, Mink and Representative Norman Mineta of California co-founded the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, and she served as chair from 1995–1997. She also served as co-chair of the House Democratic Women’s Caucus. Mink was the first East Asian American woman to seek the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party. She ran in the 1972 election, entering the Oregon primary as an anti-war candidate. She was the federal Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs from 1977–1979. 

In 2003, the Patsy Takemoto Mink Education Foundation was established to provide educational funding for low-income women and children. Also in 2003, Mink was inducted posthumously into the National Women’s Hall of Fame. In 2007, Central Oahu Regional Park on Oahu was renamed Patsy T. Mink Central Oahu Regional Park in her honor. President Barack Obama honored her posthumously with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2014.