1991 January 3

Eleanor Holmes Norton Becomes Member of the House as Delegate For the District of Columbia

 

Eleanor Holmes Norton, one of the leading African-American women of her generation, on this day became the official delegate to the House of Representatives from the District of Columbia.

Norton’s first job had been as a staff attorney for the ACLU, where she defended segregationist George Wallace when he was denied a permit to use Shea Stadium in New York City (see September 30, 1968).

She was later named Chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission by President Jimmy Carter, on May 27, 1977.

See and hear Eleanor Holmes Norton on the Floor of the House: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvChXjEzoOM

Read her story: Eleanor Holmes Norton and Joan Lester, Fire in My Soul (2003)

Visit Rep. Norton’s Congressional Home Page here.

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