Congress

Patsy Mink in her office with phone held to her ear.

Patsy Mink, August 10, 1966.

The Great Society

Mink was defeated in 1959 by Daniel Inouye, who, under pressure from John Burns, switched at the last minute from running for U.S. Senate to running for Hawaiʻi’s seat in the U.S. House. Disappointed but undeterred, Mink returned to the state senate, and ran for U.S. House again in 1964.

This time, she won. Nationally, the 1964 election was a landslide for Democrats (they gained 36 seats in the House), and for President Lyndon B. Johnson.

In his January 4, 1965, State of the Union Address, President Johnson characterized the nation as being “free and restless, growing and full of hope.” Indeed, the Civil Rights Act, banning segregation in public places and prohibiting workplace discrimination, had passed the year before. The Equal Pay Act, prohibiting sex-based wage discrimination, had passed in 1963. The 89th Congress would also pass other legislation aimed at reducing inequalities, including the Voting Rights Act, the Older Americans Act, the Social Security Amendments (which established Medicare and Medicaid), and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. At the same time, the war in Vietnam was escalating–as was public opposition to the war.

Setting the stage for Title IX

In 1970, Representative Edith Green (D-OR), chair of the House Special Subcommittee on Education, held hearings on H.R. 16098, a measure that would have amended Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex in any program receiving federal financial support. The measure didn’t pass, but the hearings confirmed that discrimination against women was a systemic problem and established the need for federal intervention. Many regard these hearings as the beginning of Title IX.

Photograph of Representative Edith Green.

"The National Congress and State legislatures have always been the best proof that this indeed is a man's world-and too often discrimination against women has been either systematically or subconsciously carried out."

Representative Edith Green, Discrimination Against Women: Hearings before the Special Subcommittee on Education of the Committee on Education & Labor, House of Representatives, June-July, 1970.

Photograph of Representative Shirley Chisholm.

"I am, as it is obvious, both black and a woman. And that is a good vantage point from which to view at least two elements of what is becoming a social revolution: the American black revolution and the women's liberation movement. But it is also a horrible disadvantage. It is a disadvantage because America as a nation is both racist and anti-feminist. Racism and anti-feminism are two of the prime traditions of this country."

Representative Shirley Chisholm, Discrimination Against Women: Hearings before the Special Subcommittee on Education of the Committee on Education & Labor, House of Representatives, June-July, 1970.

Photograph of Representative Patsy Mink.

"Congress must act now to eliminate such glaring favoritism in our laws. It is no longer a matter of just equity, although that alone would dictate the necessity for the changes contemplated by H.R. 16098. Our country is now in a position where it can no longer afford to rely on the antediluvian notion that men should rule the world. We need women; their abilities and talents must be fully utilized. Our nation's future is the most compelling reason for the adoption of these provisions of H.R. 16098."

Representative Patsy Mink, Discrimination Against Women: Hearings before the Special Subcommittee on Education of the Committee on Education & Labor, House of Representatives, June-July, 1970.