Millender-McDonald (Juanita) Collection

Juanita Millender-McDonald (1938-2007) was an educator, civic leader and congresswoman who championed women’s and minority issues, human rights and education. She was born in Birmingham, Alabama on September 7, 1938. At three, her mother died and her father moved his family of five children to the Los Angeles area. She received her B.A. in Business at the University of Redlands (1981), and a M.A. in Education Administration from California State University, Los Angeles (1988). She began her career as an English teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) while studying for her first graduate degree. After receiving her Masters, she left the classroom to become a writer for the LAUSD and edited a textbook called Images. The textbook, which was written to steer female students toward non-traditional careers, exemplified Millender-McDonald's life-long interest in women's issues. Later, she was appointed as Director of Gender Equity Programs for the LAUSD.

Her interest in politics began with working on local campaigns including former Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley’s gubernatorial race (1982) and as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention (1984; and later as a state legislator, 1992; and as congresswoman, 2000). She was the first African-American woman councilmember (1990-92) and Mayor Pro Tempore (1991) of Carson, California. She began her career-long interest in transportation issues by tackling the freight train and traffic congestion in the Alameda corridor near Carson. In addition, she showed an early interest in gender equity issues by raising the pay of Carson’s city clerk and treasurer.

Millender-McDonald was elected to the California State Legislature (1992-96) as the representative of the 55th Assembly District and became the first woman to chair both the Insurance Committee and the Revenue and Taxation Committee. She was involved early on in raising awareness of HIV and AIDS, especially among black women. For 10 years, she held an annual AIDS Walk at Cal State Dominguez Hills. She continued to be attracted to transportation and education issues. She resolved the Alameda corridor issue through state legislation and then pursued designating the corridor as a national transportation artery for federal funding. In addition, she conducted hearings across the state for three years to create an urban education reform proposal.

Millender-McDonald was elected to the United States Congress (1996) in a special election and represented the 37th District of California, which included Carson, Compton, Long Beach, Signal Hill and Watts. She was reelected to the six succeeding terms (1997-2007) until her death. She was considered a front-runner for the job of Secretary of Transportation if John Kerry had been elected. She was a firm believer in celebrating women’s achievements and in assisting women to fulfill their potential. As an international leader she had been proactive in building coalitions with female leaders in Spain, Africa, Afghanistan, Central America, Canada, China and India to promote the status of women leaders.

As a member of the 109th Congress (2005-06), Millender-McDonald served as the first African-American woman to chair the House Committee on House Administration. She also served on the House Committee on Small Business including the Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight, the Subcommittee on Tax Finance and Exports (ranking minority member); House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure including the Subcommittee on Aviation, the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation and the Subcommittee on Highways, New Democratic Coalition, Transit and Pipelines; Joint Committee on the Library of Congress, Joint Committee on Printing, and Congressional Black Caucus.