Born in Mattoon, Coles, Illinois, United States
Ancestors 
Daughter of Bert Fitzgerald Roberts
and Hildren C. (Johnson) Roberts
Sister of
Malcolm Roberts
Wife of
William Beasley Harris
— married
1 Sep 1955 [location unknown]
Died
at age 60
in Washington, District of Columbia, United States
Profile managers:
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| Created 20 Oct 2020
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| Patricia (Roberts) Harris is a part of US Black history. Join: US Black Heritage Project Discuss: black_heritage |
Biography
| Preceded by Joseph A Califano, Jr. Preceded by Carla Anderson Hills Preceded by William R. Rivkin |
United States of America 13th Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare[1]  1979-1981 6th Secretary of Housing and Urban Development  1977-1979 Ambassador to Luxembourg 1965-1967 |
Succeeded by Richard Schultz Schweiker (HHS) Shirley Hufstedler (Ed) Succeeded by Moon Landrieu Succeeded by George J. Feldman |
Patricia (Roberts) Harris is Notable.
Patricia Roberts Harris was an American politician, diplomat, government official, and legal scholar. As both Secretaries of Housing and Urban Development, and United States Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, she was the first Black Woman to serve in the United States Cabinet. [2]
Patricia Roberts Harris was born in 1924 in Mattoon, Illinois, the daughter of railroad dining car waiter Bert Fitzgerald Roberts and Hildren Johnson. [3]
She graduated summa cum laude from Howard University in 1945, was elected Phi Beta Kappa and served as Vice Chairman of the Howard University chapter of the NAACP. Roberts received her J.D. from the George Washington University National Law Center in 1960, ranking number one in her class.
She died of breast cancer at age 60 on March 23, 1985. She was buried at Rock Creek Cemetery. [4]
In 2000, the US Postal Service released a stamp in her honor. [5]
Sources
- ↑ During her tenure as Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, education was split off into its own department and she stayed on as the Secretary of the renamed Department of Health and Human Services.
- ↑ Wikipedia: Patricia Roberts Harris
- ↑ "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (accessed 13 April 2023), Patricia Roberts in household of Joseph D Brodie, Mattoon, Coles, Illinois, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 22, sheet 14B, line 79, family 357, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 412; FHL microfilm 2,340,147.
- ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #6892469
- ↑ Smithsonian National Postal Museum. Note that the bio states that she graduated from law school at Howard, not GW.
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Categories: Mattoon, Illinois | USBH Notables, Needs More Sources | USBH Notables, Needs Genealogically Defined | USBH Notables, Needs Biography | US Secretaries of Housing and Urban Development | US Secretaries of Health, Education, and Welfare | US Secretaries of Health and Human Services | US Ambassadors to Luxembourg | Lawyers | Phi Beta Kappa | Howard University | George Washington University Law School | Rock Creek Cemetery, Washington, District of Columbia | Persons Appearing on US Postage Stamps | US Black Heritage Project Managed Profiles | African-American Notables | Notables