Cardiss Collins

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Cardiss Collins

| image = Cardiss Collins - Restoration.jpg

| state = Illinois

| district = {{ushr|IL|7|7th}}

| term_start = June 5, 1973

| term_end = January 3, 1997

| predecessor = Frank Annunzio

| successor = Danny Davis

| birth_name = Cardiss Hortense Robertson

| birth_date = {{birth date|1931|9|24}}

| birth_place = St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2013|2|3|1931|9|24}}

| death_place = Alexandria, Virginia, U.S.

| restingplace = Arlington National Cemetery

| party = Democratic

| spouse = {{marriage|George Collins|1958|1972|end=died}}

| education = Northwestern University

}}

Cardiss Hortense Collins ({{nee|Robertson}}; September 24, 1931 – February 3, 2013) was an American politician from Illinois who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1973 to 1997. A member of the Democratic Party, she was the fourth African-American woman in Congress and the first to represent the Midwest.{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2013-02-06-ct-met-cardiss-collins-obit-20130206-story.html|title=Cardiss Collins, 1931-2013|last=Svitek|first=Patrick|date=February 6, 2013|website=Chicago Tribune|language=en-US|access-date=February 14, 2019}} Collins was elected to Congress in the June 5, 1973 special election to replace her husband, George, who had died in the December 8, 1972 United Airlines Flight 553 plane crash a month after being elected to a second term.{{cite web |url=https://history.house.gov/People/Detail/11246 |title=Collins, Cardiss |work=United States House of Representatives}} The seat had been renumbered and combined from the 6th district to the 7th, and had been redrawn to include the Loop. She had previously worked as an accountant in various state government positions.

Congressional career

Throughout her political career, she was a champion for women's health and welfare issues. In 1975, she was instrumental in prompting the Social Security Administration to revise Medicare regulations to cover the cost of post-mastectomy breast prosthesis, which before then had been considered cosmetic.{{cite journal|title=Women in Government: A Slim Past, But a Strong Future|journal=Ebony|date=August 1977|pages=89–92, 96–98}} In 1979, she was elected as chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, a position she used to become an occasional critic of President Jimmy Carter.{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1979/09/21/the-coming-out-of-cardiss-collins/112ac037-8e31-4a63-8604-b9edaed24658/|title=The Coming Out Of Cardiss Collins|last=Trescott|first=Jacqueline|date=September 21, 1979|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=February 23, 2019|page=C1}} She later became the caucus vice chairman. In the 1980s, Collins warded off two primary challenges from Alderman Danny K. Davis,{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28759232/chicago_tribune/|title=Washington letting ally Davis go it alone in race with Collins|last=Arndt|first=Michael|date=March 17, 1986|work=Chicago Tribune|access-date=February 23, 2019|at=Section 2, p. 3|via=Newspapers.com}} who would finally be elected to replace her after she chose not to seek reelection in 1996.{{Cite news |last=Langer |first=Emily |date=February 6, 2013 |title=Cardiss Collins, lawmaker who championed women and minorities, dies at 81 |work=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/cardiss-collins-lawmaker-who-championed-women-and-minorities-dies-at-81/2013/02/06/ac68f6a6-7076-11e2-a050-b83a7b35c4b5_story.html |access-date=}} In 1990, Collins, along with 15 other African-American women and men, formed the African-American Women for Reproductive Freedom.{{cite book|author=Kathryn Cullen-DuPont|title=Encyclopedia of women's history in America|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oIro7MtiFuYC|access-date=February 4, 2012|date=August 1, 2000|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-0-8160-4100-8|page=6}}

In 1991, Collins was named chair of the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Competitiveness. Her legislative interests were focused on establishing universal health insurance, providing for gender equity in college sports, and reforming federal child care facilities.{{Cite web|url=https://wgntv.com/2013/02/05/u-s-rep-cardiss-collins-1931-2013/comment-page-1/|title=First African American woman to represent IL in Congress dies|last1=Purl|first1=Rachael|last2=Materre|first2=Micah|date=February 5, 2013|website=WGN9|access-date=December 12, 2019}} Collins gained a brief national prominence in 1993 as the chairwoman of a congressional committee investigating college sports and as a critic of the NCAA.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28759624/chicago_tribune/|title=Collins grabs baton as Congress' NCAA nemesis|last=Sherman|first=Ed|date=January 15, 1993|work=Chicago Tribune|access-date=February 23, 2019|at=Section 4, p. 2}} She also engaged in an intense debate with Rep. Henry Hyde over Medicaid funding of abortion that year.{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1993/07/01/hyde-abortion-curb-survives-bitter-debate/9d0d2e6a-52d6-435d-9a67-1806debaaa67/|title=Hyde Abortion Curb Survives Bitter Debate|last=Merida|first=Kevin|date=July 1, 1993|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=December 12, 2019}}

During her last term (1995–1997), she served as ranking member of the Government Reform and Oversight Committee.{{Cite news |title=12-TERM ILLINOIS DEMOCRAT, COLLINS, TO RETIRE FROM HOUSE |language=en-US |work=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1995/11/09/12-term-illinois-democrat-collins-to-retire-from-house/545f4b8a-467d-47c7-9e57-dd3ad8df3e9a/ |access-date=2023-08-03 |issn=0190-8286}}

Retirement, death and honors

Collins did not seek re-election in 1996, citing her age. At the time of her retirement, she was the longest-serving Black female member of Congress. In 2004, she was selected by Nielsen Media Research to head a task force examining the representation of African Americans in TV rating samples. Collins lived in Alexandria, Virginia at the time of her death on February 3, 2013, at the age of 81.{{Cite news|url=https://www.rollcall.com/news/cardiss_collins_first_african_american_woman_to_represent_illinois_dies_at-222164-1.html|title=Cardiss Collins, First African-American Woman to Represent Illinois, Dies at 81|last=Cahn|first=Emily|date=February 5, 2013|work=Roll Call|access-date=February 23, 2019|language=en}}{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/08/us/politics/cardiss-collins-illinois-congresswoman-dies-at-81.html?ref=politics|title=Cardiss Collins, Fighter in Congress for Equality and the Poor, Dies at 81|last=Yardley|first=William|date=February 7, 2013|work=The New York Times|access-date=February 9, 2013}} The United States Postal Service's Cardiss Collins Processing and Distribution Center, located at 433 W. Harrison St. in Chicago, Illinois, is named in her honor and was completed in 1996 to replace the old Main Post Office across the street on Van Buren Street.[http://www.npmhu306.org/cardiss-collins-processing-and-distribution-center Cardiss Collins Processing and Distribution Center] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727131953/http://www.npmhu306.org/cardiss-collins-processing-and-distribution-center |date=July 27, 2011 }}

References

[http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=C000634 Congressional Biography]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20060411081613/http://www.mith2.umd.edu/WomensStudies/GovernmentPolitics/WomeninCongress/Biographies/House/collins-cardiss University of Maryland. Women's Studies Database. Government and Politics. Women in Congress biography.]
[http://www.nielsenmedia.com/newsreleases/2004/TaskForce.htm "Nielsen Appoints Prominent Community and Industry Leaders to Independent Task Force on TV Measurement." Nielsen Media Research. 06/08/04.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927200421/http://www.nielsenmedia.com/newsreleases/2004/TaskForce.htm |date=September 27, 2007 }}

Dobson, Frank E.; Dobson, Jasmin (2023) A Leader with Courage: The Impact of Congresswoman Cardiss Collins: Maitland, FL: Mill City Press. 978-1662882869.

External links

{{CongLinks | congbio=c000634 | votesmart= | fec=H6IL07024 | congress= }}
{{C-SPAN|1965}}
[http://www.visionaryproject.com/collinscardiss Cardiss Collins' oral history video excerpts] at The National Visionary Leadership Project
[https://archive.org/details/CardissCollins FBI file on Cardiss Collins] at the Internet Archive

{{s-ttl|title=Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Illinois's 7th congressional district|years=1973–1997}}

{{s-ttl|title=Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus|years=1979–1981}}

{{s-ttl|title=Ranking Member of the House Oversight Committee|years=1995–1997}}

{{USCongRep-start|congresses= 93rd–104th United States Congresses |state=Illinois}}