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Patricia Roberts Harris was born in 1924 in Mattoon, Illinois. Following high school she attended Howard University in Washington, D.C. on scholarship and graduated summa cum laude in 1945. After pursuing graduate studies and engaging in social justice work, Mrs. Harris enrolled in The George Washington University Law School, where she graduated first in her class in 1960.In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson appointed Mrs. Harris ambassador to Luxembourg, making her the first African-American woman to be chosen as a United States Ambassador. With the change of presidential administration in 1968, Mrs. Harris returned to Washington, D.C. and took the helm at Howard University School of Law, becoming the first African-American woman to serve as Dean of a law school. 

 

Shortly after taking office in 1977, President Jimmy Carter nominated Mrs. Harris to become Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). By this time in Mrs. Harris's life she had established herself as not only a recognized leader for civil rights, but also as a prominent corporate lawyer and businesswoman. Some, including a few Black leaders, wondered if Harris had grown out of touch with the very people she was charged with serving. During her Senate confirmation hearing for the HUD Secretary position, she was asked if she felt capable of representing the interests of the poor and less fortunate in America. She replied:

 

“Senator, I am one of them. You do not seem to understand who I am. I am a Black woman, the daughter of a dining car waiter. …a Black woman who could not buy a house eight years ago in parts of the District of Columbia. I didn't start out as a member of a prestigious law firm, but as a woman who needed a scholarship to go to school. If you think I have forgotten that, you are wrong…if my life has any meaning at all, it is that those who start out as outcasts may end up being part of the system.”

 

When she was confirmed by the Senate, Mrs. Harris again made history, not only by becoming the first African-American woman to become a Cabinet Secretary, but also by being the first African-American woman to be in the line of succession to the Presidency, at number 13. During her tenure as HUD Secretary, Mrs. Harris was a staunch supporter of housing rehabilitation. She funneled millions of dollars into upgrading deteriorating neighborhoods rather than wiping them out through slum clearance. She developed a Neighborhood Strategy Program that subsidized the renovation of apartments in deteriorated areas. In addition, she expanded the Urban Homesteading Plan and initiated Urban Development Action Grants to lure businesses into blighted areas. She poured millions of dollars into renovating deteriorating housing projects throughout the nation.

 

Mrs. Harris was so effective in her post that when HUD was split to create two new entities — the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) — President Carter immediately named her Secretary of HHS, a position she held for the remainder of the Carter Administration.

 

In 1982, Mrs. Harris became a full-time professor at The George Washington University Law School. She passed away on March 23, 1985 at the age of 60.

 

The Patricia Roberts Harris Awards Dinner is held near the end of every academic year to honor Mrs. Harris's legacy and inspire our students to follow her example of service, dedication, and excellence. The Dinner is also a time for students and faculty to reflect on the academic year as we recognize graduating BLSA students, BLSA alumni, dedicated BLSA sponsors, law school faculty and staff, and champions of diversity in the local legal community.