1900 Ad

Jet, May 26, 2003

May 19, 1965--

* Patricia R. Harris, lawyer, educator and diplomat, was named ambassador to Luxembourg by President Lyndon B. Johnson on this day. This made her the first Black woman to have diplomatic rank in United States history. Harris served in the post until 1967. A native of Mattoon, IL, Harris earned a bachelor's degree at Howard University, graduating summa cum laude. In 1960, she graduated from George Washington University's National Law Center, ranked first in her class. Twelve years after her Luxembourg appointment, she again made history when she became the first Black woman to hold a presidential Cabinet post in 1977. President Jimmy Carter named her secretary of the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development. In 1979, Carter appointed her secretary of the United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare. Later that year, Congress established a separate United States Department of Education, which she also headed until 1981. She died in 1985 of cancer at the age of 60. In 2000, the United States Postal Service dedicated a stamp in her honor, and she became the 23rd American and seventh woman honored on a commemorative.

May 23, 1900--

* Sergeant William H. Carney was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his bravery in action during the Civil War on this day. Carney was the first Black soldier to receive this honor. It was during a charge on Fort Wagner, SC, in 1863, that Carney saw the color sergeant carrying the flag had been wounded. Carney, a member of the 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry, went through a volley of enemy bullets and was twice wounded before he rescued the flag. As he delivered it to his own regiment, he shouted, "The Old Flag never touched the ground!" Carney died on December 9, 1908.