Fierce and Fearless: Patsy Takemoto Mink, First Woman of Color in Congress

Patsy Takemoto Mink, the trailblazing legislator known for her work on Title IX, has been awarded the 2023 Mary Nickliss Prize in U.S. Women's and/or Gender History by the Organization of American Historians. Fierce and Fearless, the first biography of Mink, chronicles her life as a third-generation Japanese American from Hawaii, her advocacy for race, gender, and class equality, and her work to promote peace and environmental justice.

Format: Hardback
Length: 456 pages
Publication date: 03 May 2022
Publisher: New York University Press

Winner of the 2023 Mary Nickliss Prize in U.S. Women's and/or Gender History, given by the Organization of American Historians, the first biography of trailblazing legislator Patsy Takemoto Mink, best known as the legislative champion of Title IX, is titled "Fierce and Fearless." President Barack Obama, who posthumously awarded Mink the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2014, said, "Every girl in Little League, every woman playing college sports, and every parent—including Michelle and myself—who watches their daughter on a field or in the classroom is forever grateful to the late Patsy Takemoto Mink." Mink was the first woman of color and the first Asian American woman elected to Congress. Her first election to Congress was in 1964, and she served in the House for twenty-four years, with her final term ending with her death in 2002. Mink was an advocate for girls and women, best known for her work shepherding and defending Title IX, the legislation that changed the face of education in America, making it possible for girls and women to participate in school sports and education more broadly, at the same level as boys and men. Mink's life is wonderfully chronicled by eminent historian Judy Tzu-Chun Wu and Gwendolyn Mink, Patsy's daughter, a noted political science scholar and first-hand witness to the many political struggles that her mother had to overcome. Featuring family anecdotes, vignettes, and photographs, "Fierce and Fearless" offers new insight into who Mink was and the progressive principles that fueled her mission. Wu and Mink provide readers with an up-close understanding of her life as a third-generation Japanese American from Hawaii—from her childhood on Maui to her decades-long career in the House, working with fellow legislators to pass groundbreaking legislation.

Weight: 844g
Dimension: 161 x 236 x 38 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781479831920