Yvonne Brathwaite Burke

Yvonne Burke
Member of the Amtrak Board of Directors
Assumed office
January 1, 2013
PresidentBarack Obama
Donald Trump
Joe Biden
Member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
In office
December 8, 1992 – December 1, 2008
Preceded byKenneth Hahn
Succeeded byMark Ridley-Thomas
Constituency2nd district
In office
January 3, 1979 – December 2, 1980
Preceded byJames A. Hayes
Succeeded byDeane Dana
Constituency4th district
Member of the
U.S. House of Representatives
from California
In office
January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1979
Preceded byNew constituency (Redistricting)
Succeeded byJulian Dixon
Constituency37th district (1973–1975)
28th district (1975–1979)
Member of the California State Assembly
from the 63rd district
In office
January 2, 1967 – January 3, 1973
Preceded byDon Allen
Succeeded byJulian Dixon
Other positions held
Chair of Los Angeles County
In office
December 4, 2007 – December 2, 2008
Preceded byZev Yaroslavsky
Succeeded byDon Knabe
In office
December 3, 2002 – December 2, 2003
Preceded byZev Yaroslavsky
Succeeded byDon Knabe
In office
December 3, 1997 – December 2, 1998
Preceded byZev Yaroslavsky
Succeeded byDon Knabe
In office
December 7, 1993 – December 6, 1994
Preceded byEdmund D. Edelman
Succeeded byGloria Molina
Chair Pro Tem of Los Angeles County
In office
December 5, 2006 – December 4, 2007
Preceded byZev Yaroslavsky
Succeeded byDon Knabe
In office
December 4, 2001 – December 3, 2002
Preceded byZev Yaroslavsky
Succeeded byDon Knabe
In office
December 3, 1996 – December 2, 1997
Preceded byZev Yaroslavsky
Succeeded byDon Knabe
In office
December 8, 1992 – December 7, 1993
Preceded byEdmund D. Edelman
Succeeded byGloria Molina
Personal details
Born
Perle Yvonne Watson

(1932-10-05) October 5, 1932 (age 92)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouses
Louis Brathwaite
(m. 1957; div. 1964)
William Burke
(m. 1972)
ChildrenAutumn, and one step daughter
EducationUniversity of California, Berkeley
University of California, Los Angeles (BA)
University of Southern California (JD)

Yvonne Pearl Burke (née Watson, later Brathwaite; born October 5, 1932) is an American politician and lawyer from California.[1][2] She was the first African-American woman to represent the West Coast in Congress. She served in the U.S. Congress from 1973–1979. She represented the 2nd District on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors from 1992–2008.[3] She served as Chair of Los Angeles County four times and served as chair pro tem three times.

In 1973, she became the first member of the U.S. Congress to give birth while in office, and she was the first person to be granted maternity leave by the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.

She serves on the Board of Directors of Amtrak, having been appointed to the position by President Barack Obama in 2012.

  1. ^ "BURKE, Yvonne Brathwaite | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives". history.house.gov. Retrieved May 4, 2016.
  2. ^ "New Arenas of Black Influence: Yvonne Brathwaite Burke". Calisphere. 1982. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  3. ^ "Yvonne Brathwaite Burke | Bedrosian Center | USC". bedrosian.usc.edu. Archived from the original on December 17, 2015. Retrieved May 4, 2016.