new head of public policy and government affairs operations in washington on the key issues in telecom like net neutrality, 5g and need for more spectrum. she's joined by john mckennan. >> there's some characteristics of the spectrum that make it complicated in that environment. there's a very narrow line of sight. >> doesn't go through walls very well. >> exactly. there's some issues with that. but there's actually a lot of kind of complex engineering developments that have developed these new antennas. so there's actually way to kind of adjust for that kind of wish spectrum and make it more usable in that kind of environment. >> watch the communicators tonight at 8:00 eastern on c-span 2. >> next on american history tv, judy wu an asian-american studies professor talks about the life and career of

congresswoman patsy take motto mink. she was the first woman of color to be elected to the house of representatives and was a key co-sponsor of title ix which prohibits sex discrimination. c-span's american history tv interviewed professor wu at this year's annual meeting of the american organization of historians in providence, rhode island. this is ten minutes. >> judy wu, who was patsy take motto mink. >> she was the first elected colored member of congress. she served for 24 years. from 1965 to 1977. from 1990 to 2002. she is best known for co-sponsoring and defending title ix. >> when did she die?

>> 2002. she never had the vaccination people have nowa days it was chicken pox or measles and she got it late in life. >> how old was she? >> she was born in 1927. so, my math. maybe 75 or close to 75 when she passed away. >> how did she get involved in politics in the first place >> she was part of what was described as the democratic revolution in hawaii. hawaii was a plantation society. it was a very hierarchical society with whites on top and labor on bottom. originally native hawaiians but the plantation society imported workers from asia, from puerto rico, from portugal, it was a very stratified society.

the republicans dominated the economic life, the political life, the social life. patsy was part of this generation that tried to organize democrats and they really reached out to people who were the have not sos they reached out to workers, they reach out to people who were nonwhite and built a democratic party that still is now the dominant political voice in hawaii. but at the time she was recently graduated law j.d.. she was also a young woman with a child and nobody would employ her. she ended up as a libyan in chicago. when she came back to hawaii there was racial and gender discrimination so she hung up her shingles and her clients were relatively poor so her first case she received fish for payment. as she was trying to make a space for herself as a professional woman she got involved in politics and

behind-the-scenes organizer and then she herself ran for office. ooh >> did she have any particular qualities that made her successful as a candidate? >> i never seen her in person. i only have seen footage about her. she seemed to be a very stirring speaker. she participated in debate in college and in high school. so she had that ability to really move people. she was also committed to democratic ovals, so she supported workers, she support femd who are marginalized, wanted to make sure they had equal access and equal rights and made sure the government was there. she grew up under fdr in the great depression and heard his fireside chat broadcasts so i think she really took that to heart along with her own experiences of being a racialized woman in hawaii. >> once she arrives in washington what challenges did she face there

>> it's interesting. she becomes a celebrity because she's the first nonwhite woman to become a congresswoman. she's from hawaii a relatively young state. it's the last state that enters the united states. so they describe her as pretty and pert. they ask her to demonstrate hula. it's part of her being an exotic woman from hawaii. and she's able to perform some of that. she is someone who is very stylish, you look at images of her had she looks like somebody who dress as jackie kennedy. she took hula as a child but she went beyond that. >> how did she end up working on behalf of title ix. >> he was in office from '64 to '77. before going into federal office she was in state office and territorial office and early on she was advocating for equal pay for women. advocating for child care. really trying to figure out ways in which the state government and then eventually the federal

government can support women's initiatives. she's in office and part of the educational and labor committee assignment and title ix comes out of those committees. they are trying to make sure women are not discriminated against not just in terms of sports but also in terms of educational access, access to programs, access to scholarship and she's really a part of that generation of feminist legislator whose are demanding gender equity. >> how would you describe her other accomplishment? >> she was an early critic of u.s. involvement in vietnam which was a very difficult position to be in since she was under president johnson and she supported a lot of his domestic great society legislation but she was very critical of the use of both human personnel and also financial resources to commit war. i think her interests in issues about anti-war and also anti-cold war politics really has to do with her being from

hawaii. hawaii and other pacific islands were sites of nuclear testing, sites of military testing so i think she's very aware of the impact of that type of militarism has on people who have to live underneath the bombs and be the subject of u.s. military invasions and attacks. so that was one of her key initiatives was to try to lobby against u.s. military involvement in vietnam. she also was very sensitive and concerned about the environment and i think, again, that's connected to her growing up in hawaii, being concerned about the lands and the waters that surround the state but also concerned about those issues on the mainland of the united states. she tries to pass legislation against strip mining. she tries to pass legislation against nuclear testing on the waters and lands of the united states. so that was also, i think, a key issue for her. she's very supportive of civil rights and racial equality.

when she first gets to washington that's when the voting rights is dabtd and immigration act, 1965 immigration act is debated. she's a part of these liberal initiatives that we have now since consider to be defining elements of the democratic political legislation. i think what's interesting is she comes back in the 1990s when a lot of these programs are now subject to attack not just by republicans but democrats as well and she's trying to defend welfare, to critique racism and sexism and she's there at the height of the politics but also at a point when those politics are being attacked and on a point of decline. >> patsy mink's daughter is a political scientist, correct? the two of you are working on a book about her. >> yes. >> tell me a little bit about that. when i start this project everyone said you have to talk to wendy mink. we first just started having conversations and i would interview her.

patsy wanted wendy to write her biography. i think wendy was unsure how to proceed with that. she didn't want to write a personal book. but she didn't want to write an academic work. so we're working together. it's been wonderful. she's beginning each of other chapters with a personal vignette and it's fantastic to able to get access to someone like her. i will find something in the archives and talking to her. this is what was going on in our family at the time and in terms of congressional debate. she grew up around the house of representatives. i mentioned child care before. so as a teenager she would take the bus from her school go to her mother's office and just roam the halls of congress. she would pick up on conversations here and there and they were a very political family so at dinner time they would sit and talk about vietnam, talk about welfare, talk about the environment, and so it's been wonderful to be able to collaborate with her. >> has your research on

congresswoman mink influenced at all how you study women in politic? >> absolutely. i'm going to be talking about this tomorrow. one of the key, i think, interventions that this experience is make being for me is i tend to look at grassroots politic and this definitely is a case across the board, i think, scholarship of women in 1970s and 1980s. its focused on consciousness raising groups. women in grassroots organizations discovering sexism and i think it's a very important story to tell. but this is shifting our gaze to the capital and trying to think how did these feminist ideas eventually shape policies and politics that will then have a broader impact and also in turn enable some of these grassroot movements to do what they want to do. >> judy wu thank you very much. >> thank you for the opportunity. >> you're watching american history tv all weekend every

weekend on c-span 3. to join the conversation like us on facebook at c-span history. all weekend long american history tv is joining our comcast cable partners to showcase the history of provo, utah. to learn more about the cities on our current tour visit c-span.org/citiestour. we continue with our look at the history of provo. >> read smoot was an early mormon apostle and u.s. senator. being an apostle of the church running for national office did not sit well with some. there was a long series of hearings, testimony called to