Jordan, Barbara Charline

Impact on the world

Became the first African American woman elected to the U.S. House from a Southern state in 1972, then rose to national prominence in 1974 with a televised opening statement during the Nixon impeachment hearings, in which she reflected on the irony of the Constitution's framers never having intended to include her in 'We, the People,' a speech widely regarded as one of the most memorable of the entire Watergate proceedings; in 1976 she became the first Black person and first woman to deliver a keynote address at a major party's national convention.

Life & background

Born in Houston's Fifth Ward and educated in segregated public schools, Jordan won a national debate championship in high school and graduated magna cum laude from Texas Southern University before earning her law degree from Boston University, where she was one of only two women in her class. After two unsuccessful runs for the Texas House, she won election to the Texas Senate in 1966, becoming the first Black state senator in Texas since 1883 and the first Black woman ever elected to the Texas legislature, building a reputation as a detail-oriented pragmatist who earned the respect of her 30 white male colleagues. In 1972 she won election to the U.S. House, becoming, along with Andrew Young of Georgia, one of the first two African Americans elected to Congress from the former Confederacy since 1901, and the first Black woman to do so from any Southern state. Her 1974 televised remarks during the House Judiciary Committee's impeachment hearings against Richard Nixon made her a national figure overnight, and in 1976 she became the first African American and first woman to deliver a keynote address at a Democratic National Convention. After three terms in Congress, during which she successfully extended Voting Rights Act protections to Hispanic voters in Texas, she declined an ambassadorship offer from President Carter and instead taught at the University of Texas's LBJ School of Public Affairs until her death in 1996.

Sources

1. Encyclopædia Britannica; LBJ School (The Barbara Jordan Legacy); HISTORY.com; U.S. House of Representatives History, Art & Archives