Congresswoman Barbara Jordan
Political Legacy of an African-American Woman
As the first African-American woman to be elected to the Texas House of Representative in 1966 and later a State Senator, she went on to become president pro tem and acting governor for a day in 1972. In that same year, she was elected to the United States House of Representatives, the first woman of color from a Southern state to serve in the in Congress where she remained from 1973 until 1979.
Barbara Jordan's Early Life
Barbara Jordan was born on February 21, 1936 in Houston, Texas Fifth Ward, daughter of Reverend Benjamin M. Jordan and a domestic worker, Arlyne (Patten) Jordan. She attended Roberson Elementary School and continued her education at Wheatley High School where she was influenced by an African-American attorney, Edith S. Sampson. After attending Texas Southern University where she graduated magna cum laude in 1956 and from Boston University Law School in 1959, Jordan passed the bar exams in Massachusetts and Texas. She returned to Houston to open her own law practice, the third African-American woman to be licensed in Texas. Although she did not win election when she ran for office in 1962 and 1964, she began her successful political career in 1966 when she began serving in the Texas House of Representative.
Barbara Jordan's Political Career
The racial barriers broken by Barbara Jordan began when she was the first African-American woman to be elected to the Texas House of Representatives. She was re-elected to a full term in the Texas State Senate in 1968. Jordon was president pro tem of the State Senate and was honored by being chosen to be acting governor for one day in 1972.
When she was elected to the United States House of Representative, the first African-American woman from a Southern State, she served on the House Judiciary Committee. Her remarks as a member of the Committee during the Nixon Impeachment Hearings still serve as a reminder of her belief in America: "My faith in the Constitution is whole, it is complete, it is total. I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the destruction of the Constitution."
Jordan was chosen to be keynote speaker at the 1972 Democratic National Convention, the first African-American woman to be given that honor. The speech addressed the American ideals of accountability, equality, and unity. Her words helped to rally support for the election of Jimmy Carter as President of the United States.
Barbara Jordan sponsored legislation including those concerned the needs of the poor, African-Americans, and disadvantaged people such as the Workmans Compensation Act, which contained maximum benefits paid to injured workers, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
In 1973, Jordan was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis but continued to serve in the U.S. Congress until 1979. She retired from politics and became a Professor of Public Affairs at the Lyndon Baines Johnson School of Public Affairs. Among the awards she had garnered during her lifetime were the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994, the United States Military Academys Sylvanus Thayer Award and being named to the National Womens Hall of Fame. The main terminal at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport is named after her as is a middle school in Cibolo, Texas. Jordan died on January 17, 1996, leaving behind Nancy Earl, her long time companion of more than 20 years. Her legacy of equality and justice survives her.
