This Day in History: 2017-11-06
November 6, 2012 – “Mazie Hirono Elected to U.S. Senate”
Mazie Hirono became the first Asian American woman elected to the U.S. Senate on November 6, 2012. She is also the first elected woman Senator from Hawaii, the first U.S. Senator born in Japan and the nation’s first Buddhist Senator. Prior to getting elected to the U.S. Senate, Hirono served as the congresswoman from Hawaii’s 2nd congressional district from 2007 to 2013. She has served on the Senate Committee on Armed Services, Committee on Environment and Public Works and Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.
1963 - “First African-American Woman to Hold a Cabinet Position and Serve as a U.S. Ambassador” Advocate of women’s rights, Patricia Roberts Harris was appointed by President John F. Kennedy to co-chair the National Women’s Committee for Civil Rights. In 1965, one year after the civil rights act, Patricia R. Harris made history under President Lyndon B. Johnson as the first black female U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg. She broke another barrier two years later as the first Dean of Law at her alma mater, Howard University; she became the first black woman to head a law school in the U.S.