Patsy Mink

Rep. Patsy Mink (D-Hawaii) became the first woman of color elected to a seat in Congress, where she spent decades advocating for women’s rights. Her legacy lies in Title IX, the law barring sexual discrimination in institutions that receive federal assistance. 

Mink, a lawyer who lived in Honolulu with her husband and daughter, made her foray into politics by founding the Oahu Young Democrats and serving as a lawyer for the territorial House of Representatives. She was later elected to the territorial House and the territorial Senate. 

Once Hawaii became a state in 1959, Mink knew she wanted to run for the state’s at-large seat in the House of Representatives. State party leaders worked against her, and she lost the Democratic primary. In 1964, she mounting a campaign for a second House seat given to Hawaii. 

She was the first Asian American woman to serve in Congress and only the second female member of Congress from Hawaii.

Mink focused much of her work in Congress on education issues, helping to pass a bill creating a national day care system to support low-income families that was later vetoed by President Nixon. 

She was a vocal advocate for racial and gender equality. Mink helped write and co-sponsored Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. 

She helped form the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus in 1994 and co-chaired the Democratic Women’s Caucus. 

She died in 2002 at the age of 74 after a battle with pneumonia. She was in the process of seeking reelection at the time. The Title IX law was renamed the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act following her death. 

— Morgan Chalfant