From the Annals of LBJ –  In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Robert C. Weaver as  head of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).  Weaver became the first African- American cabinet member in U.S. history.  Johnson’s move was an attempt to improve troubled race relations and eliminate urban blight.  At the time many major inner-city urban areas were blighted and populated largely by African Americans.

Weaver had broad experience in social and economic issues concerning urban African Americans.  He had previously served in FDR’s administration as an advisor to the Secretary of the Interior and a special assistant with the Housing Authority.  Later as a member of the National Defense Advisory Commission he worked to mobilize black workers to support the war effort.  He was also a  rent commissioner for the New York and head of the Housing and Home Finance Agency under JFK.  At HUD, Weaver expanded affordable housing programs and worked to pass the Fair Housing Act, which prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, family status or national origin in the sale or rental of a dwelling, or in the provision of housing services or facilities.