New Stamp Honors Patricia Roberts Harris

By Ed Somers

On January 28, Conference President Denver Mayor Wellington E. Webb presented to the nation’s mayors a new U.S. Postal Stamp for Patricia Roberts Harris.

The 23rd stamp in the Black Heritage series honors Harris, the first African-American women to serve as a member of a presidential cabinet.  In 1977, President Jimmy Carter named Harris Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.  Two years later, he appointed her Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare.  Harris also was the first African-American women to serve as a U.S. ambassador.  President Lyndon B. Johnson named her ambassador to Luxembourg in 1965.  She also was the first woman to serve as Dean of Howard University Law School.

As Mayor Webb stated, “Throughout her career, Secretary Harris gave special attention to the needs of the disadvantaged and distinguished herself as an advocate of fairness and equity for all Americans.  She worked very closely with the Conference of Mayors on many important policy priorities under the Carter Administration.”

Harris died of cancer in Washington, DC on March 23, 1985.

The Patricia Roberts Harris Commemorative Campaign is chaired by Randolph S. Kinder, and the Founder/Director is Fran Phillips-Calhoun.

In concluding his remarks, Mayor Webb said that the stamp will be represented to the mayors gathered in Seattle for the 68th Annual Conference of Mayors in June of 2000.