Patsy Mink

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Unable to find work as a married, female, Asian-American attorney, Mink returned to her student job at the University of Chicago Law School library while her husband found work immediately with the United States Steel Corporation. In 1952, she gave birth to daughter Gwendolyn (Wendy), who later became an educator and prominent author on law, poverty, and women's issues. In August the family decided to move to Hawaii where John found work with the Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association. To practice law, Mink needed to pass her bar examination, but when she applied her residency was questioned. The territorial law, in force at the time regarding married women, had removed her Hawaiian residency, making her a resident of her husband's state. Proving that she had never resided in her husband's home state of Pennsylvania, she challenged the territorial law as sexist. Hawaii's attorney general ruled in her favor and allowed her to take the examination as a Hawaii resident. Passing the test, Mink became "the first Japanese-American woman licensed to practice law in Hawaii".

Despite passing the bar exam in June 1953, Mink continued to face discrimination as she sought employment as an attorney. No firms in the private or public sector, even those headed by Japanese Americans, were willing to hire a married woman with a child. With the help of her father, she established a private firm and began teaching law courses at the University of Hawaii to earn money while she built her practice. With the opening of her firm, Mink became the first Asian-American woman to practice law in the Hawaiian territory. Her firm took cases in criminal and family law, which other firms typically avoided. She began to be active in politics and founded the Everyman Organization, a group that served as the hub of the Young Democrats club on Oahu. She was elected "chairman of the territory-wide Young Democrats", which according to Esther K. Arinaga and Renee E. Ojiri was "a group that would wield a remarkable influence over Hawaiian politics for several decades".

In 1954, Mink worked on the congressional campaign of John A. Burns, though he lost the race. The following year, she worked as staff attorney during the 1955 legislative session and drafted statutes, while observing the inner-workings of the legislature. As the Territory of Hawaii debated statehood in 1956, Mink was elected to the Hawaiian Territorial Legislature representing the Fifth District in the territorial House of Representatives. Surprising the Democratic party leadership with her win, she became the first woman with Japanese ancestry to serve in the territorial House. Two years later, she was the first woman to serve in the territorial Senate. In 1959, Hawaii became the 50th state of the Union and Mink ran in the Democratic primary for the state's at-large U.S. congressional seat. She was defeated by Territorial Senator Daniel Inouye. From 1962 to 1964, Mink served in the Hawaii State Senate.

During her time in the territorial legislature, Mink was known for her liberal positions and independent decision-making. On her first day in office as a congresswoman in 1955, she submitted a successful resolution protesting British nuclear testing in the Pacific. Dealing with a broad spectrum of socio-economic issues, she worked on legislation covering education, employment, housing, poverty, and taxation. She authored a bill in 1957 to grant "equal pay for equal work", regardless of gender, and was a staunch supporter of improving education, supporting legislation to increase per capita spending to better provide for children. In 1960, Mink became vice-president of the National Young Democratic Clubs of America and worked on the Democratic National Convention's Platform Committee drafting team. That year at the national convention in Los Angeles, she gained recognition when she spoke on the party's position in regard to civil rights. She urged that equal opportunity and equal protection be afforded to all Americans. Motions to restrict the civil rights platform made by North Carolina Senator Sam Ervin were defeated and a platform to ensure equal rights and equal protection under the law to all citizens passed with the approval of two-thirds of the party.

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