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Patricia Roberts Harris was an American politician, diplomat, and legal scholar. She served as the 6th United States secretary of housing and urban development from 1977 to 1979 and as the 13th United States secretary of health and human services from 1979 to 1981 under President Jimmy Carter. She previously served as the United States ambassador to Luxembourg from 1965 to 1967 under President Lyndon B. Johnson. Throughout her public career, Harris was a trailblazer for women and people of color to hold a number of positions, including the first African American woman and woman of color ever to serve in a presidential cabinet and the first woman and person of color appointed to two different presidential cabinet positions. She was the first African American HHS secretary and just the second black HUD secretary, as well as the second woman to lead either of those executive departments. Furthermore, she was the first black woman U.S. ambassador, the dean of a U.S. law school, and a member of a Fortune 500 company's board of directors. A member of the Democratic Party, she ran for mayor of the District of Columbia in the 1982 mayoral election but was defeated during the primaries, ultimately finishing second to incumbent mayor Marion Barry.
Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander was a pioneering Black professional and civil rights activist of the early-to-mid-20th century. In 1921, Mossell Alexander was the second African-American woman to receive a Ph.D. and the first one to receive one in economics in the United States. In 1927, she was first Black woman to receive a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and went on to become the first Black woman to practice law in the state. She was also the first national president of Delta Sigma Theta sorority, serving from 1919 to 1923.
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Mahala Ashley Dickerson was an American lawyer and civil rights advocate for women and minorities. In 1948 she became the first African American female attorney admitted to the Alabama State Bar; in 1951 she was the second African American woman admitted to the Indiana bar; and in 1959 she was Alaska's first African American attorney. In 1983 Dickerson was the first African American to be elected president of the National Association of Women Lawyers. Her long legal career also helped to pave the way for other women attorneys. In 1995 the American Bar Association named her a Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement honoree.
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Ruby Hurley was an American civil rights activist. She was a leader in the Civil Rights Movement and administrator for the NAACP, and was known as the "queen of civil rights".
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Zipporah Parks Hammond (1924–2011) was the University of Colorado College of Nursing's first African-American graduate and the first Black Director of Medical Records in Colorado. She was a humanitarian, philanthropist, and civil-rights champion in Colorado.
Ruth Cousins Denny was a Black educator and civil rights activist in Denver, Colorado. Denny dedicated her life to combating racial injustice and educating young people. Denny was a founding member of the Denver chapter of Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and led direct actions around Denver.
Edna Wilson-Mosley was a prominent politician, civil rights activist, and educator in Denver and Aurora, Colorado. Wilson-Mosley was a civil rights specialist for Colorado’s Civil Rights Commission. She was the only Black founder of Women's Bank and served on the Board of Directors. She was married to John Mosley, a highly respected and original Tuskegee Airman.
Honorable Claudia J. Jordan is a retired judge in Colorado. Jordan was the first Black female judge in the Rocky Mountain region, seated in 1994. She retired in 2014.
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Velveta Golightly-Howell". Colorado Women's Hall of Fame.
- 1 2 3 "Velveta Golightly-Howell: Life-long champion for social justice and advocacy". Denver 7. 16 March 2020.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Pellant, Jessie (29 February 2020). "2020 Mary Lathrop Trailblazer Award Winner: Velveta Golightly-Howell". Colorado Women's Bar Association.
- ↑ "About". Sister-to-Sister.
- ↑ "Velveta Golightly-Howell, J.D., M.P.A., Member-At-Large (she/her)". ACLU Colorado.
- ↑ "MARY LATHROP TRAILBLAZER AWARD". Colorado Women's Bar Association.
