Government Resources for Women's Studies: Former Women in Government

Patsy Takemoto Mink (1927-2002) was the first woman of color elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and the first Asian-American woman to serve in Congress. In addition to writing bills like Title IX, the Early Childhood Education Act, and the Women's Educational Equity Act, Mink was the first Asian-American to run for U.S. President.

Click here for more on Patsy Mink from the Women's History Museum.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933-2020) was nominated to the Supreme Court by President Bill Clinton in 1993, from a previous position as a United States Court of Appeals District of Columbia Circuit judge. She was the first woman to serve on two major law reviews (Harvard Law Review and Columbia Law Review), first tenured female Columbia Law School professor and co-author of the first casebook on sex discrimination. She’s known for her opinions on gender equality, notably the landmark United States v. Virginia, which allowed women to attend Virginia Military Institute.

Sandra Day O'Connor (1930-2023) was an American retired attorney and politician who served as the first female associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1981 to 2006. She was the first woman nominated and, subsequently, the first woman confirmed to the Supreme Court.

Texas Democrat Ann Richards (1933-2006) began working for political campaigns in 1950. She was elected county commissioner in 1976, then state treasurer in 1982. She made waves at the 1988 Democratic Convention when she said that Republican nominee George H.W. Bush was "born with a silver foot in his mouth." She became the governor of Texas in 1990, and although she only spent one term in office — losing the 1994 election to George W. Bush — she was known for plans to build a "new Texas."

Source: Biography.com

The Texas Politics Project

Shirley Anita St. Hill Chisholm (1924-2005) became the first Black woman elected to the United States Congress in 1968 and represented New York's 12th congressional district for seven terms from 1969 to 1983. In the 1972 United States presidential election, she became the first Black candidate to seek a major party's nomination for President of the United States, and the first woman to run for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination.

Mayor Annise Parker (born May 17, 1956) is the former 61st mayor of Houston (2010-2016) and one of only two women to hold the City’s highest elected office. She served six years as a City Council Member, six years as City Controller, and six years as Mayor. She is one of only two women to be elected Mayor, and is the only person in Houston history to hold the offices of Council Member, Controller and Mayor. She was the first openly LGBT Mayor of a major American city and only the 10th woman. Parker is a Fellow at the Doerr Institute for New Leaders and Professor in the Practice at Rice University.

Elaine Chao (born March 26, 1953) became the first Asian-American woman to serve in a presidential cabinet when President George W. Bush appointed her Secretary of Labor in 2001. She also served as the 18th Secretary of Transportation in the Trump administration from 2017 to 2021.