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Patsy Mink
Portrait of a woman in a blue suit adorned with a pearl necklace
Official portrait,c. 1994
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives
fromHawaii
In office
September 22, 1990 – September 28, 2002
Preceded byDaniel Akaka
Succeeded byEd Case
Constituency2nd district
In office
January 3, 1965 – January 3, 1977
Preceded byThomas Gill
Succeeded byDaniel Akaka
ConstituencyAt-large Seat B(1965–1971)
2nd district(1971–1977)
Member of theHonolulu City Council
from the 9th district
In office
December 1, 1982 – December 1, 1986
Succeeded byJohn DeSoto
Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs
In office
March 28, 1977 – May 1, 1978
PresidentJimmy Carter
Preceded byFrederick Irving
Succeeded byThomas R. Pickering
Secretary of the House Democratic Caucus
In office
January 3, 1975 – January 3, 1977
LeaderCarl Albert
Preceded byLeonor Sullivan
Succeeded byShirley Chisholm
Personal details
Born
Patsy Matsu Takemoto

(1927-12-06)December 6, 1927
Hāmākua Poko,Hawaii Territory,U.S.
DiedSeptember 28, 2002(2002-09-28)(aged 74)
Honolulu, Hawaii,U.S.
Resting placeNational Cemetery of the Pacific
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseJohn Mink
Children1
EducationWilson College
University of Nebraska–Lincoln
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa(BS)
University of Chicago(JD)
Patsy Mink's voice
Patsy Mink honorsJapanese-AmericanlobbyistMike Masaoka
Recorded July 25, 1991

Patsy Matsu Mink(néeTakemoto;Japanese:Trúc bổn マツ,[1]December 6, 1927 – September 28, 2002) was an American attorney and politician from theU.S. stateofHawaii.She served in theUnited States House of Representativesfor 24 years as a member of theDemocratic Party,initially from 1965 to 1977, and again from 1990 until her death in 2002. She was the firstwoman of colorand the firstAsian-Americanwoman elected to Congress, and is known for her work on legislation advancing women's rights and education.

Mink was a third-generationJapanese American,having been born and raised on the island ofMaui.After graduating asvaledictorianof theMaui High Schoolclass in 1944, she attended theUniversity of Hawaiʻi at Mānoafor two years and subsequently enrolled at theUniversity of Nebraska,where she experienced racism and worked to havesegregationpolicieseliminated. After illness forced her to return to Hawaii to complete her studies there, she applied to 12 medical schools to continue her education but was rejected by all of them. Following a suggestion by her employer, she opted to study law and was accepted at theUniversity of Chicago Law Schoolin 1948. While there, she met and married a graduate student in geology, John Francis Mink. When they graduated in 1951, Patsy Mink was unable to find employment and after the birth of their daughter in 1952, the couple moved to Hawaii.

When she was refused the right to take the bar examination, due to the loss of her Hawaiian territorial residency upon marriage, Mink challenged the statute. Though she won the right to take the test and passed the examination, she could not find public or private employment because she was married and had a child. Mink's father helped her open her own practice in 1953 and around the same time she became a member of the Democratic Party. Hoping to work legislatively to change discriminatory customs through law, she worked as an attorney for the Hawaiian territorial legislature in 1955. The following year, she ran for a seat in the territorialHouse of Representatives.Winning the race, she became the first Japanese-American woman to serve in the territorial House and two years later, the first woman to serve in the territorialSenate,when she won her campaign for the upper house. In 1960, Mink gained national attention when she spoke in favor of thecivil rights platformat theDemocratic National Conventionin Los Angeles.

In 1964, Mink ran for federal office and won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. She served a total of 12 terms (24 years), split between representing Hawaii'sat-largecongressional district from 1965 to 1977 andsecondcongressional district from 1990 to 2002. While in Congress in the late 1960s, she introduced the first comprehensive initiatives under theEarly Childhood Education Act,which included the first federal child-care bill and worked on theElementary and Secondary Education Actof 1965. In 1970, she became the first person to oppose aSupreme Courtnominee on the basis of discrimination against women. Mink initiated a lawsuit which led to significant changes to presidential authority under theFreedom of Information Actin 1971. In 1972, she co-authored theTitle IX Amendment of the Higher Education Act,[2]later renamed the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act in 2002.

Mink was the first East Asian-American woman to seek the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party. She ran in the1972 election,entering theOregon primaryas an anti-war candidate. She was the federalAssistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairsfrom 1977 to 1979. From 1980 to 1982, Mink served as the president ofAmericans for Democratic Actionand then returned toHonolulu,where she was elected to theHonolulu City Council,which she chaired until 1985. In 1990, she was again elected to the U.S. House, serving until her death in 2002.

Family background

[edit]

Patsy Matsu Takemoto was born on December 6, 1927, at the sugar plantation camp,Hāmākua Poko,nearPaia,on the island ofMaui.[3][4]She was asansei,or third-generation descendant of Japanese emigrants.[5]Her mother, Mitama Tateyama, was ahomemaker,[4][6]and the daughter of Gojiro Tateyama and Tsuru Wakashige.[7][8]Their family, which had 11 children, lived in ashackby the Waikamoi Stream. William Pogue, Gojiro's employer, arranged to have Tateyama's daughters educated at the Maunaolu Seminary, aboarding schoolforChristiangirls located in the town ofMakawao.[7]

Takemoto's maternal grandparents were both born in theEmpire of Japanduring the 19th century.[9]Gojiro Tateyama arrived in theTerritory of Hawaiilate in the century, and was employed on asugarcaneplantation.He later moved to Maui, where he was initially employed as a worker for theEast Maui Irrigation Company.Subsequently, he was employed as astore managerandfilling stationemployee. He also delivered mail throughout thebackcountryof Maui.[7]

Her father, Suematsu Takemoto, was acivil engineer.[4][6]He graduated from theUniversity of Hawaiʻi at Mānoain 1922, the first Japanese American to graduate from the University of Hawaii with a degree in civil engineering. For several years, he was the only Japanese-American civil engineer working at the sugar plantation in Maui.[10]Suematsu was passed over for promotion to chief engineer several times during his career, the positions instead being offered to mostlywhite Americans.He resigned his local position in 1945 in the aftermath ofWorld War II,and moved toHonoluluwith his family, where he established his ownland surveying company.[7]

Early years and education

[edit]

Takemoto began her education at the Hāmākua Poko Grammar School when she was four and then transferred in 4th grade to the Kaunoa English Standard School[4]a mostly-white school attended only by students who could speak English and pass the entrance examination. She felt isolated and found the atmosphere unfriendly.[11]She enteredMaui High Schoolone year before Honolulu wasattacked by Japan.Despite the local Japanese being treated as if they were enemies, Takemoto ran for and won her first election, becoming student body president in her senior year.[4][12]She was the first girl to serve as president of the student body[13][14]and graduated as classvaledictorianin 1944.[15]

Photograph of a group of four young women standing between two young men.
University of Hawaii Oratorical Contest Winners 1948 – L-R: front, Esther Belarmino, 3rd place; Patsy Takemoto, 1st place; Eichi Oki, finalist; back, Barry Rubin, finalist; Alice Mayo, finalist; andJean McKillop,2nd place

Takemoto moved to Honolulu where she attended the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa with medical school and a career in medicine her ultimate goal. During her sophomore year, she was elected president of the Pre-Medical Students Club and was selected as a member of the varsity debate team. In 1946, she decided to move to the mainland and spent one semester enrolled atWilson College,a small women's college inChambersburg, Pennsylvania.[15]Unsatisfied with the school, Takemoto transferred to theUniversity of Nebraska.The university had a long-standingracial segregationpolicy whereby students of color lived in different dormitories from thewhitestudents. This angered Takemoto, and she organized and created a coalition of students, parents, administrators, employees, alumni, sponsoring businesses and corporations. She was elected president of the Unaffiliated Students of the University of Nebraska, a "separate" student government for non-white students who were prevented from joining fraternities, sororities, and regular dormitories. Takemoto and her coalition successfully lobbied to end the university's segregation policies the same year.[16]

Although her campaign was successful, in 1947 Takemoto experienced a serious thyroid condition that required surgery and moved back to Honolulu to recover and finish her final year of college at the University of Hawaii.[17]In 1948, she earnedbachelor's degreesinzoologyandchemistryfrom the university.[4]She began applying to medical schools, but none of the dozen schools to which she applied would accept her because she was a woman, especially as they were receiving large numbers of applications from returning veterans. She briefly worked as a typist atHickam Air Force Baseand then went to work at theHonolulu Academy of Arts.Her supervisor there, Jessie Purdy Restarick, encouraged her to consider a career in law.[17]

Takemoto applied to bothColumbia Universityand theUniversity of Chicago Law Schoolin the summer of 1948. Columbia rejected her outright, as the term was starting within months.[17]The University of Chicago admitted her as a foreign student[2][18]and there was only one other woman in her class. Although she had a difficult time adjusting to the harsh winters[13]and found her courses tedious, Takemoto became a popular figure at the International House.[18]While playingbridgethere one evening, she met John Francis Mink, a formerU.S. Air Forcenavigator andWorld War IIveteran,[19]who was enrolled in geology classes.[20]Against her parents' wishes, she and Mink married in January 1951, six months after meeting.[21]That spring, she obtained herJuris Doctordegree[4][6]and John graduated as well, with a master's degree in geology.[20]

Early career

[edit]

Law

[edit]

Unable to find work as a married, female, Asian-American attorney, Mink returned to her student job at the University of Chicago Law School library while her husband found work immediately with theUnited States Steel Corporation.In 1952, she gave birth to daughter Gwendolyn (Wendy),[21]who later became an educator and prominent author on law, poverty, and women's issues.[13]In August the family decided to move to Hawaii where John found work with theHawaiian Sugar Planters' Association.[21]To practice law, Mink needed to pass her bar examination, but when she applied her residency was questioned.[Notes 1][4][26]The territorial law, in force at the time regarding married women, had removed her Hawaiian residency, making her a resident of her husband's state.[4]Proving that she had never resided in her husband's home state of Pennsylvania, she challenged the territorial law assexist.[4][26]Hawaii's attorney generalruled in her favor and allowed her to take the examination as a Hawaii resident.[27]Passing the test, Mink became "the first Japanese-American woman licensed to practice law in Hawaii".[28]

Photograph of a young woman looking at a paper, surrounded by four men.
Young Democratic Club of Hawaii 1954: – L-R: seated RepresentativeO. Vincent Esposito,Patsy Mink (chair), and Senator William H. Heen; standing, Duke Cahill (secretary) and W. C. Wong (vice-chair)

Despite passing the bar exam in June 1953, Mink continued to face discrimination as she sought employment as an attorney. No firms in the private or public sector, even those headed by Japanese Americans, were willing to hire a married woman with a child.[2][20][27]With the help of her father, she established a private firm and began teaching law courses at the University of Hawaii to earn money while she built her practice.[6][27]With the opening of her firm, Mink became the first Asian-American woman to practice law in the Hawaiian territory.[13]Her firm took cases incriminalandfamily law,which other firms typically avoided.[27]She began to be active in politics[6]and founded the Everyman Organization, a group that served as the hub of the Young Democrats club on Oahu. She was elected "chairman of the territory-wide Young Democrats", which according to Esther K. Arinaga and Renee E. Ojiri was "a group that would wield a remarkable influence over Hawaiian politics for several decades".[27]

State and territorial politics

[edit]

In 1954, Mink worked on the congressional campaign ofJohn A. Burns,though he lost the race.[27]The following year, she worked as staff attorney during the 1955 legislative session and drafted statutes, while observing the inner-workings of the legislature.[6][27]As the Territory of Hawaii debated statehood in 1956, Mink was elected to the Hawaiian Territorial Legislature[2]representing the Fifth District in the territorialHouse of Representatives.Surprising the Democratic party leadership with her win,[29]she became the first woman with Japanese ancestry to serve in the territorial House. Two years later, she was the first woman to serve in the territorialSenate.[6][30]In 1959, Hawaii became the 50th state of the Union and Mink ran in the Democratic primary for the state's at-largeU.S. congressionalseat. She was defeated by Territorial SenatorDaniel Inouye.[2][31][32][33]From 1962 to 1964, Mink served in theHawaii State Senate.[34][35]

Photograph of 24 men both standing and seated surrounding a lone seated woman, in front of an American flag hanging between two Hawaiian flags
Mink, the sole woman in the 1958 Hawaii Territorial Senate

During her time in the territorial legislature, Mink was known for her liberal positions and independent decision-making.[30][36]On her first day in office as a congresswoman in 1955, she submitted a successful resolution protesting British nuclear testing in the Pacific.[31]Dealing with a broad spectrum of socio-economic issues, she worked on legislation covering education, employment, housing, poverty, and taxation. She authored a bill in 1957 to grant "equal pay for equal work", regardless of gender, and was a staunch supporter of improving education, supporting legislation to increase per capita spending to better provide for children.[30][37]In 1960, Mink became vice-president of the National Young Democratic Clubs of America and worked on theDemocratic National Convention's Platform Committee drafting team.[31]That year at thenational conventioninLos Angeles,she gained recognition when she spoke on the party's position in regard to civil rights. She urged that equal opportunity and equal protection be afforded to all Americans.[20]Motions to restrict thecivil rights platformmade by North Carolina SenatorSam Ervinwere defeated and a platform to ensure equal rights and equal protection under the law to all citizens passed with the approval of two-thirds of the party.[38][39]

Federal politics

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A group photograph of 12 women, three sitting and 9 standing, wearing business dresses
1965 Congresswomen — L-R: Seated, SenatorMaurine Neuberger,Oregon; RepresentativeFrances Bolton,Ohio; SenatorMargaret Chase Smith,Maine; Standing, Representatives,Florence Dwyer,New Jersey;Martha Griffiths,Michigan;Edith Green,Oregon; Patsy Mink, Hawaii;Leonor Sullivan,Missouri;Julia Hansen,Washington;Edna Kelly,New York; andCharlotte Reid,Illinois.

U.S. Representative (1965–1977)

[edit]

Deciding to vie for a federal seat, Mink campaigned and won a post in theU.S. House.[34]As a result, she became the first woman from Hawaii elected to Congress,[40]the firstwoman of colorelected to the House,[2][41]the "youngest member from the youngest state, as well as the first Japanese-American woman member in Congress".[2][36]Serving six consecutive terms, she was in office from 1965 to 1977.[35][36]Her independent nature continued to guide her decisions[42]and she focused on issues that had been important to her in the Hawaiian legislature, such as children, education, and gender equality.[20]Mink supported theGreat Societyprograms of PresidentLyndon B. Johnson,though she was openly critical of theVietnam War.[43][2]

Seeking and attaining a post on the Committee on Education and Labor, on which she would serve throughout her first tenure (1965–1977), Mink introduced in the late 1960s the first comprehensive initiatives under theEarly Childhood Education Act,which included the first federal child-care bill and bills establishing bilingual education,Head Start,school lunch programs,special education,student loans, and teacher sabbaticals.[20][44][45]She also worked on theElementary and Secondary Education Actof 1965 and bills promoting adult education, Asian studies, career guidance programs, and vocational education. Her day-care bill proposed in 1967, was the first bill of its kind to pass both houses of Congress. Passed in 1971, the bill was vetoed by PresidentRichard Nixon.[45][46]In her second term, during the90th Congress,Mink was appointed to theCommittee on Interior and Insular Affairs.[44]

A photograph of a man and a woman wearing leis waving to the photographer standing on the landing of a Pan Am Airlines boarding ramp
Mink with Lyndon Johnson after his trip to Hawaii for a conference on the Vietnam War, February 1966

In 1970, Mink became the first Democratic woman to deliver aState of the Unionresponse and only the second woman to respond to the address.[47]That year, she was the first witness to testify against President Nixon'sSupreme CourtnomineeGeorge Harrold Carswell.In her testimony, she cited his refusal to hear the case brought to the5th Circuit Court of Appealsregarding Ida Phillips' employment discrimination case. Phillips had been denied a position because she was a woman with children and Mink's objection highlighted, for the first time in an evaluation of a court nominee, the inequalities faced by working women. Carswell would eventually be rejected by the Senate.Harry Blackmun,who wrote the majority opinion inRoe v. Wade,would later be confirmed instead.[14]

Mink sued theEnvironmental Protection Agencyin 1971, to obtain copies of documents that were being withheld by Nixon's office with regard to nuclear testing onAmchitka Island.Believing that under theFreedom of Information Actagency reports connected to the test should be released, she led 32 congress members in the attempt to secure the reports. The District Court ruled that the documents "were exempt from compelled disclosure" and the test was performed in November 1971. TheCourt of Appealsreversed the decision of the lower court ruling that anin camerainspection of sensitive documents might determine that some could be released. Escalated to the Supreme Court, the decision issued reversed the appeals decision and confirmed that court inspection could not override the executive's exemption. The Court did allow that Congress could change the law with regard to the regulation of executive actions. In 1974, Congress authorized private scrutiny of documents withheld by the executive. PresidentGerald Fordvetoed the legislation, but his veto was overridden by Congress.[48]

Frustrated by the roll-backs by the Nixon administration of civil liberties and the continuance of the Vietnam War, Mink entered the presidential race in 1971 hoping to become the Democratic Party's nominee.[49][50]She was the first Asian-American woman to run for president.[51]As Hawaii had no primary, her name appeared on the Oregon ballot for 1972,[49][50]as an anti-war candidate.[52]During her campaign, she flew to Paris withBella Abzug,U.S. Representative of New York, to press for the resumption ofpeace talks.Arriving in April, the women met withNguyễn Thị Bình,foreign minister forNorth Vietnam,as well as representatives for theSouth Vietnameseand United States governments.[50]Her actions drew strong criticism, fostering a campaign by Democrats in her home state to oppose her next term in Congress.[49]In May, she lost the presidential primary, failing to secure enough delegates to support her candidacy, earning only 2% of the 50 potential delegates.[50][53]

Photographic portrait of a smiling Asian woman in a sleeveless blouse
1972 campaign poster image from the Patsy Mink for President Committee

Mink co-authored and advocated for the passage ofTitle IX Amendment of the Higher Education Act,prohibiting gender discrimination by federally funded institutions of higher education.[2]President Nixon signed the Act into law in 1972.[14]She also introduced theWomen's Educational Equity Actof 1974,[43][45]which allocated funds for the promotion of gender equity in schools. The law opened employment and education opportunities for women and opposed gender stereotypes in curricula and textbooks.[2][20]In addition to her work on education issues, Mink promoted numerous laws that dealt with other issues important to women. These included theConsumer Product Safetyand Equal Employment Opportunity Acts of 1972; theEqual Credit Opportunity Actof 1974;[45]and various bills dealing with discrimination in insurance practices, pensions, retirement benefits, social security, survivor's benefits and taxation; equitable jury service; health care issues; housing discrimination based on marital status; and privacy issues. In 1973, she authored and introduced the Equal Rights for Women Act (H.R. 4034), which never made it out of committee, and she supported the ratification of theEqual Rights Amendment.[45][54]

In 1975, Mink attended theWorld Conference on Womenheld inMexico Cityfrom mid-June to early July.[45]Together with Abzug and RepresentativeMargaret Hecklerof Massachusetts, she pledged to sponsor and support legislation for a U.S. women's conference for theUnited States Bicentennial.[55]When they returned home, Abzug introduced HR 9924, co-sponsored by Mink and others, which granted $5 million in total taxpayer contributions ($28.3 million in 2023 dollars) for both state andNational Women's Conferences.It was signed into law by President Ford.[56][57]Later that year, an effort was made to exempt school athletics from the provisions of Title IX via the Casey Amendment. The Amendment proposed allowing schools to determine whether they would provide equal funding for men's and women's sporting activities. The exemption was struck from the Senate version of the appropriations bill. In the House, though Mink had lobbied heavily against the amendment to the appropriations bill (H.R. 5901), immediately before the vote was called she left the chamber, having received an emergency message that her daughter had been in a serious car accident in New York. In a 211 against and 212 for vote, the appropriation bill passed with the Casey Amendment intact. Upon her return from New York, SpeakerCarl Albertof Oklahoma and other members of the House called for a revote due to the circumstances. July 17 members revoted and with 215 in favor to 178 against, the Casey Amendment was rejected; so protecting the anti-discrimination provisions of Title IX.[44][58]

Throughout her tenure, Mink was involved in many congressional activities, including serving as vice-chair of the Democratic Study Group from 1966 through 1971. In 1968, she served as chair of the House-Senate Ad Hoc Committee on Poverty. From 1972 to 1976, she served on the House Budget Committee, chaired the Insular Affairs Subcommittee on mines and mining from 1973 to 1977 and from 1975 to 1976 was part of the Select Committee on the Outer Continental Shelf.[49]In 1976, learning that she had been given the experimental drugdiethylstilbestrol,during her pregnancy, which unwittingly placed both her and her daughter at risk of developing cancer, Mink brought aclass action lawsuitagainstEli Lilly and Companyand theUniversity of Chicago.The settlement entitled all 1,000 women affected, and their children, to free lifetime diagnostic testing and treatment at theChicago Lying-In Clinic.[42][59]That year, she also filed a complaint with theFederal Communications Commissionwhich successfully required radio stations to provide equal air time to opposing views.[60]Mink introduced theSurface Mining Control and Reclamation Act,which was enacted in 1977.[49]From 1975 to 1977, during the94th Congress,she was elected to a position in the House Democratic leadership, asSecretary of the House Democratic Caucus.[61]

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State (1977–1978)

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In 1976, Mink gave up her seat in Congress to run for a vacancy in the United States Senate created by the retirement of SenatorHiram Fong.After she lost theprimary electionfor the Senate seat to Hawaii's other U.S. Representative,Spark Matsunaga,PresidentJimmy Carterappointed Mink asAssistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs.[59]She worked on environmental issues such asdeep sea mining,toxic waste, and whale protection, holding the post from March 1977 to May 1978.[35][49]

Return to the private sector (1980–1987)

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Mink resigned from the Carter Administration in 1980, accepting a position as president of theAmericans for Democratic Actionin Washington, D. C. She was the first woman to head the national organization and served three consecutive one-year terms.[62]Returning to Honolulu, she was elected to theHonolulu City Councilin 1983, serving as Chair until 1985.[35]She was regularly on opposite sides to the Republican Mayor of HonoluluFrank Fasi,who was elected in 1984,[62]though she remained on the council until 1987.[35]In 1986 she ran for governor of Hawaii and in 1988 for mayor of Honolulu, but was not successful in either bid for office.[49]When she left the city council, Mink began working for The Public Reporter, a watchdog committee that monitored and published reports on voting records and pending legislation. She also led the Hawaii Coalition on Global Affairs, a group which sponsored public lectures and workshops on international issues.[63]

Return to Congress (1990–2002)

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A photograph of a woman standing at a podium, behind whom are a group of four men and one woman standing against a draped wall with a bookcase
Mink announcing the formation of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus

In 1990, Mink was elected to complete the remaining term of her successor in the House,Daniel Akaka.Akaka had been appointed to the Senate to succeed Matsunaga, who had recently died in office. She was elected to a full term six weeks later, and subsequently was reelected six times.[64]That year, she opposed theSupreme Court nomineeClarence Thomas.When the Senate Judiciary Committee deniedAnita Hillthe opportunity to give testimony, Mink, and other congresswomen, includingBarbara Boxerof California,Louise Slaughterof New York, andPat Schroederof Colorado, marched to theCapitolto protest the decision. Their protest was carried on the front page ofThe New York Timesand Hill was later allowed to testify.[14]

In her second tenure as a House member, Mink worked to revive protections in the socio-economic programs she had worked for in her first six terms, which had been scaled back by subsequent administrations.[43]From 1990 to 1993, she worked on legislation sponsoring the Ovarian Cancer Research Act and amendments to the Higher Education Act. In 1992, she was honored by theAmerican Bar Associationwith the Margaret Brent Women Lawyers Achievement Award for professional excellence.[60]She co-sponsored the Gender Equity Act of 1993, pressed for universal health care,[43]and introduced a bill to protect reproductive decisions as an individual right.[65][54]She worked on legislation regarding displaced homemakers, minimum wage increases, occupational safety, pay inequality, and violence against women.[65]

Black and white photograph of an Asian woman speaking at a podium
Mink speaking in Washington in 1993

In May 1994, Mink and RepresentativeNorman Minetaof California co-founded theCongressional Asian Pacific American Caucusfor which she became chair in 1995, serving until 1997.[44]She also served as co-chair of the House Democratic Women's Caucus. In 1996, Mink opposed thewelfare-reformlegislation proposed by the Republican-majority House and supported by theClinton administration.[44]She authored the Family Stability and Work Act as an alternative welfare reform measure and repeatedly, though mostly unsuccessfully, lobbied for increased federal safety nets for children and families living in impoverished conditions. She opposed legislation that would limitliability for product injuriesand work place discrimination and objected to the ratification of theNorth American Free Trade Agreement.[65]She was a co-sponsor of theDREAM Act[54]and staunchly opposed the creation of theUnited States Department of Homeland Security,fearing that it might avert civil liberties and result in another occurrence of policies like theinternment camps for Japanese Americansduring World War II.[28]

Mink and other members of the House of Representatives objected to counting the 25 electoral votes fromFloridawhichGeorge W. Bushnarrowly won after a contentiousrecount.Because no senator joined her objection, the objection was dismissed by Vice PresidentAl Gore,who was Bush's opponent in the2000 presidential election.[66]Without Florida's electoral votes, the election would have been decided by the U.S. House of Representatives, with each state having one vote in accordance with theTwelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Death

[edit]
Photograph of an Asian woman in an orange blouse and white blazer
Mink, 2002

On August 30, 2002, Mink was hospitalized in Honolulu'sStraub Clinic and Hospitaldue to complications fromchickenpox.Her condition steadily worsened, and on September 28, 2002, she died in Honolulu of viralpneumonia,at age 74.[28]In recognition of the national mourning of her death, Secretary of DefenseDonald Rumsfeldordered all flags at military institutions lowered tohalf staffin her honor.[52]Mink received a national memorial and was honored with astate funeralheld on October 4 in theHawaii State Capitol Rotundaattended by leaders and members of Congress.[67][68]Women's groups honored Mink by forming a humanleiof approximately 900 women who surrounded the tent where Mink's casket stood in the capital atrium, while singing Hawaiian songs.[69]She was buried at theNational Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific,near thePunchbowl Crater.[67][68]Mink's death occurred one week after she had won the 2002 primary election, too late for her name to be removed from the general election ballot.[67][70]On November 5, 2002, Mink was posthumously re-elected to Congress.[71]Her vacant seat was filled byEd Caseafter a special election on January 4, 2003.[72]

Legacy

[edit]

Mink is remembered as a woman who dealt with the personal discrimination she had experienced as a woman and an Asian American by devoting her career to creating public policies to open doors for women and minorities.[2][73][74]In 2002 Congress renamed the Title IX Amendment of the Higher Education Act, which Mink had co-authored, as the "Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act".[14]Her papers were donated in 2002 and are housed in theLibrary of Congress.[2][75]In 2003 a scholarship program, the Patsy Takemoto Mink Education Foundation, was established to provide educational funding for low-income women and children.[76]That year, Mink was inducted into theNational Women's Hall of Fame,[74]and the Scholar-Athlete Hall of Fame of the Institute for International Sport,[77]and the post office serving the area of Maui in which she grew up was renamed the Patsy Takemoto Mink Post Office Building in her honor, after authorization by PresidentGeorge W. Bush.[78]In 2007,Central Oahu Regional ParkonOahuwas renamed "Patsy T. Mink Central Oahu Regional Park" in her honor.[79]She was honored posthumously with thePresidential Medal of Freedomfrom PresidentBarack Obamaon November 24, 2014.[80][81]In June 2022, a portrait of her bySharon Sprungwas unveiled in the U.S. Capitol, where it now hangs.[82]

Picture of the 2024 Patsy Takemoto Mink Womens Quarter
2024 Patsy Takemoto Mink Womens Quarter

Documentary films about Mink's life and role in Title IX include thePatsy Mink: Ahead of the Majority(2008), directed by Kimberlee Bassford andRise of the Wahine(2014), directed by Dean Kaneshiro.[83][84]The 2008 film highlighted the challenges Mink overcame and how that fueled her work on legislation to help others.[83]The 2014 film told the story of the University of Hawaii'swomen's volleyball team's struggle to build a team even after Title IX passed. As the bill was an educational funding law, women's athletic director,Donnis Thompsonused it as leverage to expand sporting opportunities at the university in spite of intense opposition. Working together to ensure that lawmakers understood who they were representing, Mink had Thompson bring the team to Washington.[85][86]

In 2024, theUnited States Minthonored Mink with the 2024 Patsy Takemoto Mink Quarter, which was the 12th coin released in theAmerican Women Quarterprogram.[87][88]

Selected works

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  • Mink, Patsy (September 1966). "Education—The Vision of America".The School Counselor.14(1). American School Counselor Association: 5–12.ISSN0036-6536.OCLC5792465172.
  • Mink, Patsy (December 1970). "The Status of Women".Educational Horizons.49(2). Pi Lambda Theta: 54–56.ISSN0013-175X.OCLC5792526438.
  • Mink, Patsy (1971). "Micronesia: Our Bungled Trust".Texas International Law Forum(6). University of Texas at Austin: 181–207.ISSN0040-4381.OCLC16332426.
  • Mink, Patsy (1976). "Energy and Environment: Which Is Undermining Which?".Natural Resources Lawyer(9). American Bar Association: 19–39.ISSN2328-3416.OCLC772508196.
  • Mink, Patsy (1976). "Reclamation and Rollcalls: The Political Struggle over Stripmining".Environmental Policy and Law.2(4). Elsevier Science Publishers: 176–180.doi:10.1016/S0378-777X(76)80011-X.ISSN0378-777X.OCLC4933180255.
  • Mink, Patsy;Hartmann, Heidi I.(Spring 1994). "Wrap-up".Social Justice.21(1). Social Justice/Global Options viaJSTOR:110–113.JSTOR29766793.
  • Mink, Patsy (October 1996). "Nuclear Waste: The Most Compelling Environmental Issue Facing the World Today".Fordham Environmental Law Journal.8(1). Fordham University School of Law: 165–170.ISSN1079-6657.OCLC7851122029.

See also

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Explanatory notes

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  1. ^TheCable Actof 1922 had repealed the federal statue which required a woman to give up her citizenship in favor of her husband's,[22]if her husband was a citizen or eligible to be naturalized.[23]Amendments to the Cable Act continued until 1940 before married women were granted their own status as citizens without restriction.[24]However, until the 1960s, legislative variations among the states led to extremely different civil rights for women within the federal system depending upon their residency.[25]

References

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Citations

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  1. ^Hawaii Times 1953.08.18:Page 6
  2. ^abcdefghijklNovara, Elizabeth (June 23, 2022)."Patsy Takemoto Mink's Title IX Legacy".Unfolding History: Manuscripts at the Library of Congress.Library of Congress.RetrievedJune 23,2022.
  3. ^Arinaga & Ojiri 2003,p. 572.
  4. ^abcdefghijFugita 1999,p. 246.
  5. ^Nomura 1998,pp. 288, 290.
  6. ^abcdefgLeavitt 1985,p. 183.
  7. ^abcdArinaga & Ojiri 2003,p. 574.
  8. ^FamilySearch 1905.
  9. ^FamilySearch 1933.
  10. ^Arinaga & Ojiri 2003,p. 573.
  11. ^Arinaga & Ojiri 2003,p. 576.
  12. ^Arinaga & Ojiri 2003,p. 577.
  13. ^abcdMertens 2012,p. 46.
  14. ^abcdeLee 2018.
  15. ^abArinaga & Ojiri 2003,p. 578.
  16. ^Arinaga & Ojiri 2003,p. 579.
  17. ^abcArinaga & Ojiri 2003,p. 580.
  18. ^abArinaga & Ojiri 2003,p. 581.
  19. ^Borreca 2005,p. C5.
  20. ^abcdefgMertens 2012,p. 48.
  21. ^abcArinaga & Ojiri 2003,p. 582.
  22. ^Hacker 2014,pp. 57–58.
  23. ^Hacker 2014,p. 59.
  24. ^Hacker 2014,pp. 60–61.
  25. ^Carlson 2007,p. 262.
  26. ^abArinaga & Ojiri 2003,pp. 582–583.
  27. ^abcdefgArinaga & Ojiri 2003,p. 583.
  28. ^abcGootman 2002.
  29. ^Arinaga & Ojiri 2003,p. 585.
  30. ^abcArinaga & Ojiri 2003,p. 586.
  31. ^abcFugita 1999,p. 247.
  32. ^The Honolulu Star-Bulletin1959a,p. 23.
  33. ^The Honolulu Star-Bulletin1959b,p. 3.
  34. ^abArinaga & Ojiri 2003,p. 587.
  35. ^abcdeUnited States Congress M000797 2020.
  36. ^abcLeavitt 1985,p. 184.
  37. ^The Honolulu Advertiser1957,p. 2.
  38. ^Roberts 1960,p. 44-45.
  39. ^Library of Congress 2008,p. 20.
  40. ^Zhao 2009,p. 75.
  41. ^Democratic National Committee 2007.
  42. ^abMertens 2012,p. 49.
  43. ^abcdGlass 2017.
  44. ^abcdeOffice of the Historian & Clerk of the House 2003.
  45. ^abcdefMcAleer, Femia & Brooks 2007,p. 7.
  46. ^Arinaga & Ojiri 2003,p. 588.
  47. ^Woodruff 2015.
  48. ^Arinaga & Ojiri 2003,pp. 588–589.
  49. ^abcdefgFugita 1999,p. 248.
  50. ^abcdArinaga & Ojiri 2003,p. 590.
  51. ^Ettinger & McDowell 2020.
  52. ^abKua 2002.
  53. ^Walsh 1972,p. 1.
  54. ^abcU.S. Congress 2002.
  55. ^The Charlotte News1975,p. 5A.
  56. ^U.S. Congress 1975.
  57. ^Threinen 2001.
  58. ^The Lansing State Journal1975,p. C3.
  59. ^abArinaga & Ojiri 2003,p. 592.
  60. ^abFugita 1999,p. 249.
  61. ^Office of the Clerk 2011.
  62. ^abArinaga & Ojiri 2003,p. 593.
  63. ^Viotti 1989,p. B1.
  64. ^Arinaga & Ojiri 2003,p. 594.
  65. ^abcMcAleer, Femia & Brooks 2007,p. 11.
  66. ^"Electoral College Ballot Count | C-SPAN.org".www.c-span.org.
  67. ^abcDePledge 2002,p. 7.
  68. ^abGordon & Nakase 2002,pp. 1, 5.
  69. ^Hoover 2002,p. A14.
  70. ^The Los Angeles Times2002.
  71. ^The New York Times2002.
  72. ^CNN2003.
  73. ^Gordon & Nakase 2002,p. 1.
  74. ^abDobbin 2003,p. 6.
  75. ^McAleer, Femia & Brooks 2007,p. 2.
  76. ^The Honolulu Advertiser2003b,p. B3.
  77. ^The Honolulu Advertiser2003a,p. D4.
  78. ^Young 2003,p. 3.
  79. ^Hawaii News Now2007.
  80. ^Office of the Press Secretary 2014.
  81. ^NBC News2014.
  82. ^"Patsy Mink's portrait unveiled in US Capitol on 50th anniversary of Title IX | Maui Now".
  83. ^abThe Honolulu Star-Bulletin2008,p. HIFF10.
  84. ^Gordon 2014,p. F1.
  85. ^Gordon 2014,pp. F1, F10.
  86. ^Miller 2014,pp. C1, C3.
  87. ^"2024 American Women Quarters™ Program Honorees Announced".United States Mint.RetrievedFebruary 2,2023.
  88. ^"Patsy Takemoto Mink Quarter | American Women Quarters | U.S. Mint".United States Mint.RetrievedApril 19,2024.

General and cited sources

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Wikimedia Commons has media related toPatsy Mink.
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U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of theU.S. House of Representatives
fromHawaii's at-large congressional district
1965–1971 		Constituency abolished
New constituency Member of theU.S. House of Representatives
fromHawaii's 2nd congressional district
1971–1977 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of theU.S. House of Representatives
fromHawaii's 2nd congressional district
1990–2002 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chair of theCongressional Asian Pacific American Caucus
1995–1997 		Succeeded by
Party political offices
Vacant
Title last held by
Howard Baker,George H. W. Bush,Peter Dominick,Gerald Ford,Robert Griffin,Thomas Kuchel,Mel Laird,Bob Mathias,George Murphy,Dick Poff,Chuck Percy,Al Quie,Charlotte Reid,Hugh Scott,Bill Steiger,John Tower 		Response to the State of the Union address
1970
Served alongside:Donald Fraser,Scoop Jackson,Mike Mansfield,John McCormack,Ed Muskie,Bill Proxmire 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Secretary of the House Democratic Caucus
1975–1977 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs
1977–1978 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Patsy_Mink&oldid=1234606961"