INDIANAPOLIS, Dec. 15 U.S. Rep. Julia Carson, who announced a few weeks ago that she had lung cancer, died Saturday morning at her home in Indianapolis.
Gov. Mitch Daniels ordered flags at Indiana state buildings to fly at half-staff until Carson's funeral, tentatively scheduled for next Saturday, The Indianapolis Star reported. The governor also said that Carson may be honored with a lying in state in the capital rotunda.
Carson, D-Ind., 69, announced recently that she would not seek a seventh term, saying that cancer had come back "with a terminal vengeance."
The daughter of an unwed teenager, Carson grew up black and poor in Indianapolis. She always described her mother as a major influence, talking of how she worked hard for little pay.
After working for a United Auto Workers local, Carson got involved in politics on the staff of Rep. Andy Jacobs. Jacobs encouraged her to run for the state Legislature in 1972, and she later replaced him in Congress.
Jacobs described Carson as a modest person. He mentioned her efforts to find welfare cheats while she was a trustee of Center Township -- downtown Indianapolis.
"Her welfare reforms did not break one child's heart," he said.
Copyright 2007 by UPI
