Indianapolis ? Rep. Julia Carson, who rose from a childhood of poverty and segregation to become the first black and first woman to represent Indianapolis in Congress, died Saturday. She was 69.

Carson died of lung cancer at her home, where she had spent the past several weeks, family spokeswoman Vanessa Summers said.

Carson had persevered through major heart surgery and years of health problems before revealing her lung cancer last month, saying she would not seek election in 2008 to a seventh term. Carson had been away from Washington since late September, when she was hospitalized with a leg infection.