Mink honored in
women’s hall of fame
SENECA FALLS, N.Y. >> The late Hawaii congresswoman Patsy Mink was among 12 women inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame yesterday.
The hall was established in 1969 in Seneca Falls in western New York where the first known women's rights convention was held in 1848.
Mink, a Democrat from Hawaii, was represented by her daughter, Gwendolyn, and brother, Eugene Takemoto of Maui. She died last year from pneumonia.
Mink was the first Asian-American woman in Congress and authored the landmark Title IX legislation that mandated gender equity in education and opened doors for women in athletics and academics.
This year's honor roll also includes Gertrude Ederle, who in 1926 became the first woman to swim across the English Channel; Sheila Widnall, the first woman to command the U.S. Air Force; and Stephanie Kwolek, who formulated a chemical solution in 1965 that led to Kevlar, the stronger-than-steel fiber used in bulletproof vests.
