by Richard F. Weingroff / FHWA News 2023

On May 9, 2023, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and Administrator Robin Carnahan of the General Services Administration (GSA) led a ceremony announcing the naming of the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Transportation after the fourth Secretary of Transportation, William T. Coleman, Jr. (1975-1977), and the 14th and longest serving Secretary, Norman Y. Mineta (2001-2006).

A year earlier, on May 6, 2002, President Biden had signed S. 400, a law officially naming DOT headquarters at 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., in Washington the "William T. Coleman, Jr. and Norman Y. Mineta Federal Building." Although Secretary Coleman had passed away at age 96 in 2017 and Secretary Mineta passed away at 90 in 2022, their families participated in the event that took place in the East Atrium.

In a reflection of the high regard for Secretaries Coleman and Mineta, eight former Secretaries of Transportation attended: James H. Burnley IV, Andrew Card, Elaine Chao, Ray LaHood, Federico Peña, Samuel K. Skinner, and two of the three Secretaries who previously served as Federal Highway Administrators: Rodney E. Slater and Mary E. Peters. (The third was the second Secretary, the late John E. Volpe.) Several former Deputy Secretaries and other officials were present, including former Federal Highway Administrator and Deputy Secretary Victor M. Mendez. Current Attorney General Merrick B. Garland attended in recognition of the honor for his longtime friend, Secretary Coleman.

Initially, Congress had been split on the naming of DOT headquarters. The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill bestowing the honor on Mineta, a former member of the House who had been assigned in 1975 to the Committee on Public Works and Transportation and would retain membership, including as chairman (1993-1995), until retiring from the House in October 1995. He had served as Secretary of Commerce (2000-2001), the first Asian American in the Cabinet, before becoming DOT Secretary. The Senate honored Secretary Coleman, an attorney who joined with Thurgood Marshall to overturn the "separate but equal" idea in the Supreme Court's landmark 1954 opinion in Brown v. the Board of Education, and rose to become the country's first African American Secretary of Transportation.

The decision to honor both men reflected a bipartisan spirit that, as several speakers on May 9 stated, was a hallmark of their careers. Former Representative Peter A. DeFazio, who sponsored the House bill as chairman of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, told the gathering that when he told Mineta about the joint honor, the former Secretary said, "That's great." He was delighted to share the honor with Secretary Coleman, who was a "wonderful man, a great friend."

Several speakers commented on how both men had been born at a time when they were not always welcome. Coleman was not allowed to join his high school's all-white swim team, which disbanded rather than let him join, and was barred as an adult from some restaurants in Washington even as he became the first African American law clerk in the Supreme Court. Mineta's family was moved into a Japanese American internment camp in Wyoming during World War II. But as one of the bill's sponsors, Senator Roger Wicker (R-Ms.), former chairman of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, explained, they both "loved a country that did not always love them back. And by doing so they changed our country for the better."

Senator Wicker pointed out that their bipartisan approach was reflected in the fact that both men received the country's highest civilian honor, the Medal of Freedom, from Presidents of the opposite party. Coleman, a Republican, was honored by Democratic President Bill Clinton, while Republican President George W. Bush bestowed the honor on Mineta, a Democrat. They are, as Secretary Buttigieg would point out, the only former Secretaries of Transportation to receive the Medal of Freedom.

Deputy Secretary Polly Trottenberg, who was pleased to welcome former friends from DOT and the transportation community to the event (attendance was, she said, a "hot ticket"), introduced the family members, beginning with William T. Coleman III , who appeared by video. His family was honored to be associated with Mineta because "he, too, had a commitment to diversity and ethnic opportunity." Both played a unique groundbreaking role, but "the way they broke ground was not to set up adversaries – my side versus your side – but they did it by reaching out to broad groups to create consensus that would help the society as a whole to move forward." They did so "with exquisite skill."

Hardin Coleman was in attendance – the self-described baby of the family. "Since my dad's passing, I have learned how many people felt mentored and motivated by him . . . to create a sense of fellowship that allowed people to work together to accomplish important goals." His father believed that we all "have excellence within us, a responsibility to follow the obligation of that excellence, and that we are best served when we work to create conditions in which we are all allowed to find and express our best self." One time, in an attempt to motivate his son, Coleman told Hardin that "I do not care if you are a bum on the beach. When I visit you on that beach I want to hear that you are the best bum on that beach."

Secretary Mineta's wife and partner of over 30 years, Deni, was scheduled to address the event but was unable to attend due to illness. Their son, David Mineta, spoke in her place on behalf of the family.

His dad, David Mineta said, "would be so proud today for so many reasons. One was his personal role in the design and construction of the new DOT Headquarters during his time as Secretary. He would also be honored that our nation's transportation headquarters building will bear his name alongside his friend Secretary Coleman. "He was in awe of Secretary Coleman's intelligence, and his personal and professional courage. As a new member of Congress, dad admired the steady hand Secretary Coleman used to guide the Department of Transportation."

The two Secretaries shared "two very important attributes, symbolizing the significance of their names being side by side on this building." Both had overcome vicious racism to become national leaders" and both of them made civil rights "a foundation for their professional lives." He added, "I believe both would want you to remember how much work remains to be done for so many Americans when you see their names on this building."

The other attribute they shared "was their commitment to bipartisanship. They both knew that their responsibility was to the Nation and its citizens first and partisan politics a distant second."

GSA Administrator Carnahan explained that when DOT moved into its new headquarters in 2007, the government was renting the building, but 12 years later, GSA secured funds from Congress to buy it. Ideally our Federal buildings "reflect their communities and that the names of those buildings reflect the best of our country." Choosing the name is no small matter because it is permanently etched in history. Referring to the "two trailblazing Americans," she said "the decision to rename this building after Secretary Coleman and Mineta is an example of just the type of legacy that deserves to be permanently etched" in history. She added, "I am hopeful that these two legendary Americans who deserve this place will continue to inspire the public servants who come here every day and I have no doubt that they will."

Secretary Buttigieg was the final speaker, noting that when he became Secretary, he quickly understood "two things, one, the weight of the responsibility to look after our transportation systems and the safe movement of people and goods, and second, the extent to which you are standing on the shoulders of those who have built up this department before you." He had been honored to meet with his eight predecessors earlier in the day as well as the families of the two former Secretaries.

He summarized the lives of Secretary Coleman and Secretary Mineta as well as some of their accomplishments while serving in DOT. "And though each was born at a time when this country treated them as second-class citizens, they devoted their lives to the service of this country and its people and served in the very highest way."

Secretary Buttigieg agreed with Administrator Carnahan that many wonderful things could be said about DOT headquarters. He added, however, "what it has not had until now is a name that calls us to remember and honor the importance of the mission of this agency and the tradition of those who have led it, a name that fits the past, present, and future of this institution, a name that guides us in living up to values like trust, excellence, imagination, empathy, and fairness. Now it will."

In closing his remarks, Secretary Buttigieg described the lives of the two men, their time as Secretary, and their extraordinary legacies:

Growing up in the eras that they did, witnessing the injustices that they saw, rather than respond by indulging in cynicism, they responded by engaging in service, and in doing so set out a template for the rest of us, the knowledge that the best way to help perfect our union, to contribute to that bending of the moral arc of history, is to commit yourself to making this country better than it was. Each of them understood that we are put on this earth not merely to be here, but to make others better off. I'm inspired by their example, grateful for their contributions, honored to celebrate their extraordinary legacies together with all of you right here in what is now to be the William T. Coleman, Jr. and Norman Y. Mineta Federal Building.

With Hardin Coleman and David Mineta, Secretary Buttigieg unveiled the plaque that all will see when they enter DOT headquarters through the New Jersey Avenue entrance as they approach the initial elevator bank. Below their images and brief summaries of their lives, the plaque states:

In honor of their contributions to the United States transportation system, in recognition of the historic barriers they broke, and with gratitude for their lifetimes of service to the American people, this building is hereby named the William T. Coleman, Jr. and Norman Y. Mineta Federal Building – May 6, 2022

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