[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 81 (Wednesday, May 14, 2025)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E424-E425]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 HONORING THE EXTRAORDINARY LIFE AND LEGACY OF SECRETARY ALEXIS HERMAN

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. TERRI A. SEWELL

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 14, 2025

  Ms. SEWELL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the extraordinary life 
and legacy of Alabama-native, Civil Rights activist, and trailblazing 
public servant, former Secretary of Labor Alexis Herman, who passed 
away on April 25, 2025, at the age of 77.
  A native of Mobile, Alabama, Secretary Herman was born on July 16, 
1947, to Alex Herman and Gloria Caponis. The daughter of Alabama's 
first African American ward leader, she became involved in the Civil 
Rights Movement at an early age. As a sophomore, Herman was suspended 
from Heart of Mary High School for a week for taking a stand against 
the Archdiocese of Mobile's exclusion of Black students from religious 
pageants.
  After graduating, she continued her educational journey at Edgewood 
College in Madison, Wisconsin, and Spring Hill College in Mobile before 
transferring to Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans. There, 
she became an active member of the Gamma Alpha Chapter of the Delta 
Sigma Theta Sorority before graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 
Sociology in 1969.
  A dedicated advocate for civil rights and workers' protections, 
Secretary Herman's commitment to service was the throughline of her 
career. Shortly after earning her degree, Secretary Herman returned to 
Mobile where she helped desegregate parochial schools, including her 
alma mater, and persuaded the city shipyard in nearby Pascagoula, 
Mississippi, to give apprenticeships to young Black laborers. She later 
moved to Atlanta to lobby corporations to hire Black women for white-
collar jobs before working at a New York-based consulting firm where 
she led programs to provide apprenticeships for women in nontraditional 
careers.
  Her successful career advocating for labor rights and workers' 
protections gained the attention of United States President Jimmy 
Carter, who appointed her to serve as director of the Labor 
Department's Women's Bureau.

[[Page E425]]

  Following the Carter Administration, she managed Jesse Jackson's 1984 
and 1988 presidential campaigns, served as Chief of Staff for the 
Democratic National Convention, and was Assistant to the President and 
Director of the White House Office of Public Liaison in the Clinton 
Administration.
  In 1997, Secretary Herman made history as the first African American 
and the fifth woman to lead the U.S. Department of Labor under 
President Clinton. During her almost four-year tenure, unemployment 
dropped to a 30-year low, and she served as an instrumental mediator in 
the 1997 United Parcel Service workers strike, which at the time was 
the largest strike in the United States in two decades. Additionally, 
she played a role in the efforts to curtail sweatshops, supported two 
minimum wage increases, and helped pass the Workforce Investment Act of 
1998, an overhaul of job training programs.
  After serving in the Clinton Administration, Secretary Herman formed 
a consulting company, New Ventures, and served on the boards of 
numerous companies, including Coca-Cola, Entergy, and others. She was 
also a co-chair of the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund in 2006 and joined the 
board of the Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund after the 2010 earthquake in 
Haiti. Additionally, Secretary Herman was the president of the Dorothy 
I. Height Education Fund, named for the civil and women's rights 
activist who was her mentor.
  Secretary Herman is preceded in death by her beloved husband, Dr. 
Charles Franklin, Jr. She is survived by her stepchildren, Charles J. 
Franklin, Michelle Franklin, and Shari Smith; her nephew Kirke (Teresa) 
Herman, Jr.; her cousins Bernard (Moncenya) Broadus, Robin Broadus 
Iwuoha, Lori Hendricks, and Darryl Hendricks; and a host of 
godchildren, friends, mentees, and colleagues.
  On a personal note, Secretary Herman was a great mentor and role 
model to me and so many women and African Americans in Alabama. A 
trailblazer and pioneer, she advocated for civil rights and workers 
protections. As we celebrate her incredible life and legacy, I want to 
express my sincere gratitude for the guidance she has given me in my 
life journey. Her extraordinary career in public service and advocacy 
is a testament to the power of one person to change the world. Through 
her hard work, brilliant mind, fearless determination, and thoughtful 
decision-making, she has changed lives. May the seeds she sowed into 
countless mentees continue to bear the fruit of change agents. Let us 
find comfort in knowing her incredible legacy will live on in the 
countless people she touched. May she rest in peace and power.
  On behalf of Alabama's 7th Congressional District, I ask my 
colleagues to join me in celebrating the extraordinary life and legacy 
of an exceptional public servant, former Secretary of Labor Alexis 
Herman, for her service to the City of Mobile, the State of Alabama, 
and our Nation.

                          ____________________