Rep. Julia Carson dies of lung cancer

updated 1:09 p.m. ET Dec. 15, 2007

INDIANAPOLIS - Rep. Julia Carson, the first black and first woman to represent Indianapolis in Congress, died Saturday, a family spokeswoman said. She was 69.

Carson died after a battle with lung cancer, spokeswoman Vanessa Summer said.

Carson announced last month that she was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and that she would not run next year for a seventh term representing Indianapolis' 7th District. She had not been in Washington since September, when she was hospitalized with a leg infection.

She had said that she expected to return to Washington after recuperating, but a doctor then diagnosed that her lung cancer, which had been in remission, was back.

Carson was first elected to Congress in 1996. She championed children's issues, women's rights and efforts to reduce homelessness and was a staunch opponent of the war in Iraq.

Carson was born to a single mother who worked as a housekeeper. She graduated in 1955 from the same segregated high school school as basketball star Oscar Robertson.

She began her political career in the 1960s when then-Rep. Andy Jacobs Jr. hired her to work in his office. Jacobs encouraged Carson to run for the Indiana Legislature in 1972 — the first of more than two dozen victories in local, legislative and congressional elections. She ran for Congress in 1996 after Jacobs retired.

Funeral arrangements were pending.

More from msnbc.com Red Tape: Forget the package: At stores, size does matter   Great Recession spawns crop of buzzwords Is your bank in trouble? More report bad loans When officials reject stimulus funds, sparks fly Cosmic Log: 50 years of science sagas Giving back for the holidays? Send us your pictures

MORE FROM CAPITOL HILL

Capitol Hill Section Front

It's a waiting game for Nelson on health care Lieberman supported Medicare expansion Congress readies defense budget Senate Dems may scrap Medicare expansion Senate passes $1.1 trillion spending bill Bipartisan budget group: Deficit curbs needed Medicare buy-in plan runs into resistance GOP targets climate pact in weekly address House passes historic financial rules revamp Jobless benefits attached to war funding bill Capitol Hill Section Front   Add Capitol Hill headlines to your news reader: