Cardiss collins biography of barack

  • Female congresswoman
  • History of women in congress
  • Longest-serving members of congress

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    COLLINS, Cardiss

    Elected to 12 consecutive terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, Cardiss Collins ranks as one of the longest-serving women of color in the history of Congress. Succeeding her late husband, Representative George W. Collins, after his death in , Cardiss Collins was one of only a handful of women to serve in Congress for more than 20 years, and for six years she was the only Black woman in the chamber. Collins, a member of the powerful Chicago Democratic organization headed by Mayor Richard J. Daley, was a dedicated legislator who focused on the economic and social needs of her urban district. “We must have housing, jobs and an energy policy that doesn’t tell our people ‘make a decision between heating and eating,’” she said.1

    Cardiss Collins was born Cardiss Hortense Robertson on September 24, , in St. Louis, Missouri, to Finley, a laborer, and Rosia Mae Robertson, a nurse. Upon graduating from the Detroit High School of Commerce in Michigan, she worked in

  • cardiss collins biography of barack

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    Collins, Cardiss —

    Federal legislator

    At a Glance&#x;

    Affirmative Action Became Airborne

    Health Insurance with Women in Mind

    Sources

    Cardiss Collins was first elected to the IllinoisHouse of Representatives in June of , in a special election to fill the seat left vacant by her husband, Congressman George W. Collins, who had been killed in an airplane crash. Just two days after her election, Collins started working on a bill to combat credit discrimination against women, just one of several issues concerning women, African Americans, and other minorities that Collins has consistently brought to the attention of federal lawmakers.

    During more than two decades in Congress, Collins clearly has been a trailblazer, Jet magazine noted. Collins was the first African American woman to be elected to Congress from the state of Illinois, indeed from the Midwest. For nearly a decade after her election, she was the only black woman serving in Congress. She also was the first

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    Cardiss Robertson Collins was born September 24, in St. Louis, Missouri, the daughter of Findley Robertson and Rosa Mae Robertson.  At the age of 10 her family relocated to Detroit and she spent the rest of her childhood there, eventually graduating from the Detroit High School of Commerce. After high school Collins attended Northwestern University in Chicago and later became a stenographer with the Illinois Department of Labor. She was promoted several times until she reached the position of revenue auditor for the Illinois State Department of Revenue.

    Through her husband, George Collins, and his involvement in politics, Collins became a Democratic Party activist in Chicago. She served as a committee member of the city’s Twenty-fourth Ward Democratic Organization among other community organizations. She was highly visible during George Collins campaigns for Illinois’s Seventh Congressional seat and stayed involved after he won the election. After George Collins passed away in a pl