"Cardiss Collins Robertson"(September 24 1931)

The first African American woman to represent a congressional district in the Midwest. Democratic Congresswoman Cardiss was a mainstay in the United States House pf Representatives for more than twenty years. She was the first woman and African American to chair a subcommittee of the Committee on Energy and Commerce.Her career was defined by her strong congressional record on a wide variety of issues, focusing on African Americans,women, and the environment.She was a congresswoman who refused to be pigeonholed as single-issue representative and spoke up whenever she saw injustice.Cardiss was born to the laborer Finley Robertson and the nurse Rosia Mae Robertson in St.Louis, Missouri.Her family relocated to Detroit in 1941 when she was ten.While in Detroit she attended Bishop and Lincoln Elementary Schools before graduating from the Detroit High School of Commerce. In 1958 Cardiss married George W.Collins before earning a degree from Northwestern Business School in 1967.She began her career working as a stenographer for the Illinois Department of Labor. She quickly ascended through the ranks of the department,achieving promotions as secretary,account,and finally auditor.It was also during this time that she became involved in local politics through her husband's successful campaign for the United States House of Representatives.However,it was not until his tragic death in a 1973 plane crash that her political career began in earnest.Cardiss wasted no time after after she won the special election for the seat that had belonged to her husband.Just two days after her election,she began consting a bill that would fight credit discrimination against women. This was one of a number of strong initiatives she pursued on behalf of women.She was also a key player in the implementation of the Title IX of the 1972 Education Amendments,which provided equal opportunity for women participating in collegiate athletics.In addition to these efforts on behalf of women,Cardiss also sponsored a bill that required state Medicare programs to cover basic gynecological care.She however,was much more than an advocate for women's issues in Congress. She was also strong defender affirmative action and racial equality during her stay in the House.In 1979 she became the first woman to head the Congressional Black Caucus and was able to unify the seventeen members,making them a more formidable force for racial justice.In addition to her leadership in the Black Caucus,Cardiss,also opposed the National Collegiate Athletic Association's hiring of researchers from the extremist group Beyondism,which favored the use from the eugenics to improve hereditary qualities.Cardiss was also instrumental in the implementation of affirmative action programs.She also spearheaded a campaign to deny large federal tax write-offs to Madison Avenue advertising firms that ignored black-owned communications media.She also launched an investigation of the Department of Defense and found that it was noncompliant with federal nondiscrimination laws in its choice of advertising firms.Beyond her work for minorities and women,she was a strong advocate for the environment.Cardiss lent her support to laws that required safer and more secure transport of toxic materials traveling via air. She also sponsored a bill that gave poor and minority communicties the power to stop landfills and incinerators from being forced into their neighborhoods. Cardis has been honored by a number of diffirent organizations for her work as congresswoman.She has received honorary degrees from Barber-Scotia College,Spelman College,and Winston-Salem State University and Roosevelt University in Chicago,as well as the William L. Dawson Award for Legislative Development from the Congressional Black Cacus in 1990. She wa honored by the advertising industry through the Cardiss Collins Scholarship for Diversity in Advertising.The scholarship,which is offered at the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign,was named for Cardiss because of her extensive work promoting opportunities for minoorities in advertising.She formally retired from electoral politics in 1996.