Patsy Matsu Takemoto Mink
Congresswoman
Patsy’s story is one of continuously overcoming rejection, and never backing down. Patsy Matsu Takemoto Mink was a Hawaiian-born, third-generation Japanese American. There was no question that Patsy was intelligent, even as a teenager, graduating as valedictorian of her high school. Even so, she was denied entry into 12 different medical schools. As a result, she set her sights on practicing Law.
Initially, she was denied the opportunity to take the bar exam because she lost her Hawaiian territorial residency when she got married. She challenged the sexist statute and won. She went on to pass the bar after completing school in 1953. Unfortunately, she was unable to find employment as a married woman with a child, so she went on to open her own law practice in Chicago with the help of her father.
In 1956, she ran for a seat in the House of Representatives and won, becoming the first Japanese American (and woman of color) to serve in the House. Notably, in 1972, she co-authored the Title IX which prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or other education program that receives federal money.
From 1977 until 1979 she was elected federal Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs. During this time she worked on environmental issues such as deep-sea mining, toxic waste, and whale protection. In the 1980s she returned to Honolulu, serving on the Honolulu City Council for 10 years before being called back to the U.S. House in 1990, where she worked until her death in 2002.
Mink is renowned for her enormous influence on legislation of importance to women, children, immigrants, and minorities.