Barbara Jordan | |
|---|---|
 Jordan, 1972–1978 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromTexas's18th district | |
| In office January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1979 | |
| Preceded by | Bob Price |
| Succeeded by | Mickey Leland |
| Member of theTexas Senate from the11th district | |
| In office January 10, 1967 – January 3, 1973 | |
| Preceded by | Bill Moore |
| Succeeded by | Chet Brooks |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Barbara Charline Jordan (1936-02-21)February 21, 1936 Houston, Texas, U.S. |
| Died | January 17, 1996(1996-01-17) (aged 59) Austin, Texas, U.S. |
| Resting place | Texas State Cemetery |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Domestic partner | Nancy Earl (late 1960s–1996) |
| Education | Texas Southern University (BA) Boston University (LLB) |
Barbara Charline Jordan (February 21, 1936 – January 17, 1996) was an American lawyer, educator,[1] andpolitician. A member of theDemocratic Party, she was the first African American elected to theTexas Senate sinceReconstruction,[2] the firstsouthern African American woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives,[3][4] and one of the first two African Americans elected to the U.S. House from the formerConfederacy since 1901, alongsideAndrew Young of Georgia.
Jordan achieved fame for delivering a powerful opening statement[5] at theHouse Judiciary Committee hearings during theimpeachment process against Richard Nixon. In 1976, she became the first African American, and the first woman, to deliver a keynote address at aDemocratic National Convention.[2] Jordan is also known for her work as chair of the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform. She received thePresidential Medal of Freedom, among numerous other honors. She was the first African American woman to be buried in theTexas State Cemetery.[6][7]
Barbara Charline Jordan was born inHouston, Texas'sFifth Ward.[3] Jordan's childhood was centered on church life at the Good Hope Missionary Baptist Church.[8] Her mother was Arlyne Patten Jordan, a teacher in the church and a maid.[1][2][9] Her father was Benjamin Jordan, aBaptist preacher and a warehouse worker.[2] Jordan would recite poetry at the church and would sing gospel music with her sisters.[8] In 1949, Jordan's father joined the Greater Pleasant Hill Baptist Church as the full-time pastor.[8]
Through her mother, Jordan was the great-granddaughter ofEdward Patton, who was one of the last African American members of theTexas House of Representatives prior to disenfranchisement of Black Texans underJim Crow. Barbara Jordan was the youngest of three children.[1][10] Her older siblings were Rose Mary Jordan McGowan and Bennie Creswell Jordan (1933–2000).
Jordan attended Roberson Elementary School.[9] She graduated fromPhillis Wheatley High School in 1952 with honors.[1][9][11] At Wheatley, Jordan's linguistic abilities were developed through the support of her teachers and curriculum.[12] Major influences included her English teacher Mrs. D. B. Reid, elocutionist Ashton J. Oliver, and speech and drama teacher Robert T. Holland.[12]
Jordan credited a speech she heard in her high school years byEdith S. Sampson with inspiring her to become an attorney.[8][13] Because of segregation, she could not attend theUniversity of Texas at Austin and instead choseTexas Southern University, ahistorically black institution, majoring inpolitical science and history.[8] At Texas Southern University, Jordan was a national championdebater, learning from her coach,Thomas Freeman, and defeating opponents from Yale and Brown, and tying Harvard University.[2][9] She graduatedmagna cum laude in 1956.[9][11] At Texas Southern University, she pledged Delta Gamma chapter ofDelta Sigma Theta sorority.[9] She attendedBoston University School of Law, graduating in 1959.[9][11]
Jordan taught political science atTuskegee Institute inAlabama for a year.[9] In 1960, she returned to Houston and started a private law practice.[9] During that time, the 24-year-old Jordan was one of only two black women attorneys in Texas.[2] To start off her career, Jordan became the first Black woman to work as an administrative assistant to a county judge, Bill Elliott.[2][14][15][16] Jordan began her work in politics in 1960 when she became a volunteer for theJohn F. Kennedy-Lyndon B. Johnson campaign, traveling to African American churches in Houston to encourage people to vote.[8]
Jordan campaigned unsuccessfully in 1962 and 1964 for theTexas House of Representatives.[17] Along withCurtis Graves andJoe Lockridge, she was one of three African American members elected in 1966 to the Texas Legislature, the first ones since 1896. With Jordan elected to theTexas Senate, she became the first black woman to serve in that body.[17] She served theEleventh Senate District inHouston, which had just been created afterKilgarlin v. Martin (1965) in which the federal court demanded redistricting of the Texas Legislature because densely populated urban areas were underrepresented in comparison to rural areas.[18] In a speech atRice University following the district's creation, but before her election, Jordan said, "For the first time in Texas, we are going to have legislators who represent people, not cattle."[19]
The Texas Senate in 1966 consisted of thirty-one white men and Jordan. With Jordan experiencing racism and sexism from her colleagues, Houston community members were unsure of how much of a difference Jordan could make serving in the Senate.[18] Aware of the challenges she would face, Jordan's goal was to be respected by the white conservatives in the Senate. One of the ways she accomplished this was by befriendingDorsey Hardeman, who was seen as the most powerful man in the body, and Lieutenant GovernorBen Barnes.[2][18] Jordan ran as a liberal Democrat, but she had strong relationships with the conservative wing of theTexas Democratic Party.[2] Her efforts in her first term led to her being unanimously elected as outstanding freshman member by her colleagues.[18]
Re-elected to a full term in the Texas Senate in 1968, Jordan served until 1972. She was the first African-American woman to serve as presidentpro tempore of the state senate and served one day, June 10, 1972, asacting governor of Texas.[20][21] Jordan was the first African-American woman to serve as governor of a state.[22] Additionally, Jordan was nominated to serve on federal commissions byPresident Lyndon Johnson after she was elected to the Senate; the commissions worked on housing and income maintenance.[2] During her time in the Texas Legislature, Jordan sponsored or cosponsored some 70 bills.[23] Jordan was an advocate for her constituents and the working class while in the Texas Senate. Some of her accomplishments include developing Texas' first minimum wage law[18] and funding programs to fight against hate crimes.[8]
Jordan's influence in the Senate and her relationship with Lieutenant GovernorBen Barnes shaped her path to U.S. Congress. Redistricting of Texas began after the1970 census, which included the possibility of a new congressional seat in Houston.[18] Barnes named Jordan vice-chair of the redistricting committee, and this resulted in Jordan having the ability to draw her own district, the Eighteenth Congressional District.[2][18] Jordan received 81% of the vote in 1972 to win the Democratic nomination to the U.S. House seat.[10]
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In 1972, Jordan was elected to theU.S. House of Representatives, the first woman elected in her own right to represent Texas in the House. She received extensive support from formerPresidentLyndon B. Johnson, who helped her secure a position on theHouse Judiciary Committee.[10] In 1974, she made an influential televised speech before the House Judiciary Committee supporting theimpeachment of PresidentRichard Nixon, Johnson's successor as president.[24] In 1975, she was appointed byCarl Albert, thenSpeaker of the United States House of Representatives, to theDemocratic Steering and Policy Committee.
In 1976, Jordan, mentioned as a possible running mate toJimmy Carter ofGeorgia,[17] became instead the first African-American woman to deliver a keynote address at theDemocratic National Convention.[17][25] Despite not being a candidate, Jordan received one delegate vote (0.03%) for president at theConvention.[26]
In November 1977, Barbara Jordan spoke at the1977 National Women's Conference in Houston, Texas.[4] Other speakers includedRosalynn Carter,Betty Ford,Lady Bird Johnson,Bella Abzug, Audrey Colom, Claire Randall, Gerridee Wheeler,Cecilia Burciaga,Gloria Steinem,Lenore Hershey andJean O'Leary.[27]
On July 25, 1974, Jordan delivered a 15-minute televised speech in front of the members of theU.S. House Judiciary Committee[28] during the hearings that were part of theimpeachment process against Richard Nixon.[28]
Throughout her Judiciary Committee impeachment speech, Jordan strongly stood by theConstitution of the United States. She defended thechecks and balances system, which was set in place to inhibit any politician from abusing their power.[28] Jordan never directly said that she wantedNixon impeached, but rather subtly and cleverly implied her thoughts.[29] She stated facts that proved Nixon to be untrustworthy and heavily involved in illegal situations,[29] and quoted the drafters of theConstitution to argue that actions like Nixon's during the scandal corresponded with their understanding of impeachable offenses. This powerful and influential statement earned Jordan national praise for her rhetoric, morals, and wisdom.[28] Further, both conservatives and liberals liked Jordan because of her appeal to theAmerican Dream and her positions on Watergate and theVoting Rights Act respectively.[2]
On July 12, 1976, Jordan delivered a historic keynote address at the 1976Democratic National Convention.[25][30] This address was the first time a major political party's nominating convention had an African American as the keynote speaker.[25] Jordan was chosen as a speaker because she was a Democratic member of the Judiciary Committee and made an impact with her remarks during the impeachment process of Nixon. Additionally, Jordan represented the Democratic party's progress and acceptance of minorities as a black woman.[10] Jordan's usage of American values in her address, primarily national unity, American traditions, and the importance of politicians as responsible public servants, appealed to the general public and led to a largely positive reaction.[30] AtMadison Square Garden, where the convention was held, Jordan's address ended with a 5-minute standing ovation, and during her speech, the audience interrupted with applause 20 times.[25]
Many delegates wanted Jordan to becomeJimmy Carter's running mate and wore ‘‘Barbara Jordan for Vice President’’ buttons the following day of the convention.[25] One of the messages of Jordan's speech was support for theDemocratic Party, including what they have done in the past and what they could accomplish in the future.[10] Some have linked Jordan's speech and her support of the Democratic Party as playing a role in Carter's election win, with Carter winning 92% of the African American vote.[10][25] During a time of unrest, following theWatergate scandal and theVietnam war, Carter hoped to unite both the Democratic Party and the country, and Carter tasked Jordan with helping him accomplish this goal at the convention.[25]
Jordan supported theCommunity Reinvestment Act of 1977, legislation that required banks to lend and make services available to underserved poor and minority communities. She supported the renewal of theVoting Rights Act of 1965 and expansion of that act to cover language minorities; this extended protection to Hispanics in Texas and was opposed by Texas GovernorDolph Briscoe and Secretary of StateMark White. The original version of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 included section 5, which required that changes to voting laws in certain jurisdictions were required to be reviewed by the Attorney General or theUnited States District Court, but this did not apply to Texas because the state was not included in the determined jurisdictions.[31] The law changed to include Texas under the expanded version along with the requirement of bilingual ballots for areas where "more than five percent of the population" spoke a language other than English.[31]
She also authored an act that ended federal authorization of price fixing by manufacturers. Jordan was also a proponent of theEqual Rights Amendment and issued a statement in support of extending the deadline in 1979.[32] During Jordan's tenure as a Congresswoman, she sponsored or cosponsored over 300 bills or resolutions, several of which are still in effect today as law.[23]
Jordan retired from politics in 1978 due to poor health[18] and became an adjunct professor teaching at theUniversity of Texas at AustinLyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs.[8] She was again a keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention in 1992.[12]
In 1994, Clinton awarded her thePresidential Medal of Freedom and theNAACP presented her with theSpingarn Medal.[1] She was honored many times and was given over 20 honorary degrees from institutions across the country, including Harvard and Princeton, and was elected to the Texas andNational Women's Halls of Fame.[1]
From 1994 until her death, Jordan chaired theU.S. Commission on Immigration Reform; she was appointed byPresident Bill Clinton.[8] The commission recommended that total immigration be cut by one-third to approximately 550,000 per year. The commission supported increasing enforcement against undocumented migrants and their employers, eliminating visa preferences for siblings and adult children of U.S. citizens, and ending unskilled immigration except for refugees and nuclear families. The commission's report to Congress said that it was "a right and responsibility of a democratic society to manage immigration so that it serves the national interest", concluded that "legal immigration has strengthened and can continue to strengthen this country" and "decrie[d] hostility and discrimination against immigrants as antithetical to the traditions and interests of the country." The commission recommended that the United States reduce the number of refugees admitted annually to a floor of 50,000 (this level would be lifted during emergencies).[33][34][35][36]
The recommendations made by the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform under Jordan's leadership are frequently cited by American immigration restrictionists.[37][38]
While Jordan never publicly identified herself as lesbian or queer,[39][40][17] theU.S. National Archives has referred to her as the firstLGBTQ+ woman to serve in the United States Congress.[41]
Jordan and Nancy Earl shared a home inAustin, Texas[42] and maintained a close bond for 20 years.[40] Jordan's political career was often shadowed by homophobic attacks, with advisors cautioning against the visibility of her personal relationships. With their advice, Jordan's openness about her sexual orientation was limited to private settings.[42] Jordan held a negative view on marriage and viewed it as a life of subservience. She believed that her family would accept her choice to be single only if she had a successful career.[2]
Jordan developedmultiple sclerosis in 1973, during her first year in Congress.[43]
On July 31, 1988, Jordan nearly drowned in her backyard swimming pool while doing physical therapy. She was saved by Earl, who found her floating in the pool and revived her.[44] By 1992, Jordan used a wheelchair due to her multiple sclerosis.[45]
In theKUT-FM radio documentaryRediscovering Barbara Jordan,PresidentBill Clinton said that he had wanted to nominate Jordan for theUnited States Supreme Court, but that Jordan's health problems prevented him from doing so.[46]
Jordan died at the Austin Diagnostic Medical Center in Austin, Texas, on January 17, 1996, at the age of 59.[8] Her cause of death was complications frompneumonia andleukemia. She had battledmultiple sclerosis for several years before her death.[47]
Jordan was interred inTexas State Cemetery.[48] She was the first African American to receive this honor.[8] During her tenure in the Texas State Senate, Jordan had advocated for African Americans to be buried in the state cemetery.[49] Jordan's grave rests near that of the "Father of Texas",Stephen F. Austin.[49]
In the years following Jordan's passing, more African Americans would receive the honor of being buried in theTexas State Cemetery as well, including musical artistsJames Henry Cotton andBarbara Smith Conrad, and fellow Texas-based U.S. CongresswomanEddie Bernice Johnson.[50][51][52]
Jordan was a member of thePeabody Awards Board of Jurors from 1978 to 1980.[55][better source needed]
The main terminal atAustin-Bergstrom International Airport is named after Jordan. The airport also features astatue of Jordan by artistBruce Wolfe.[56]
A boulevard in central Austin is named after Jordan. Several schools bear her name, including elementary schools inDallas, Texas,[57]Odessa, Texas,[58]Austin, Texas, Barbara Jordan Early College Prep School,[59] Richmond, Texas,[60] Barbara C. Jordan Intermediate School, a middle school inCibolo, Texas,[61]Barbara Jordan Career Center in Houston, and The Barbara Jordan Institute for Policy Research[62] at her undergraduate alma materTexas Southern University. There is also a park named after Jordan in Needville, Texas (The Barbara Jordan Park).[63]
The Kaiser Family Foundation operates theBarbara Jordan Health Policy Scholars, a fellowship designed for people of color who are college juniors, seniors, and recent graduates as a summer experience working in a congressional office.[64]
On April 24, 2009, astatue of Barbara Jordan was unveiled at theUniversity of Texas at Austin, where Jordan taught at the time of her death. The Barbara Jordan statue campaign was paid for by a student fee increase approved by the University of Texas Board of Regents. The effort was originally spearheaded by the 2002–2003 Tappee class of the Texas Orange Jackets, the "oldest women's organization at the University" (of Texas at Austin).[65] Created by Bruce Wolfe, the statue stands on the campus's West Mall near the Student Union in 2009. One of her speeches is inscribed on granite slabs behind the statue, with some of her accomplishments also being listed.[66][67]
The Barbara Jordan Public-Private Leadership Award is presented by Texas Southern University's School of Public Affairs and School of Law. Its first recipient was formerU.S. Secretary of StateHillary Clinton, on June 4, 2015.[68]
In 2023, the fiftieth anniversary of Jordan's election to Congress, a meditative monument to Jordan was completed by artists Jamal Cyrus and Charisse Pearlina Weston at theAfrican American Library at the Gregory School in Houston.[69] Later that year, a sculpture representing Jordan and created by artistAngelbert Metoyer was unveiled outsidethe former Barbara Jordan Post Office in Houston, TX.[70] The former sorting facility named after Jordan opened in 1962.[71]
Texas designated an 8-mile strip along Houston's Third Ward of State Highway 288, SH288, the Barbara Jordan Memorial Parkway.[72]
An elementary school inUniversity City School District is named after her, Barbara C. Jordan Elementary inUniversity City, Missouri.[73]
In 2000, the Jordan/Rustin Coalition (JRC) was created,[74] honoring Jordan andBayard Rustin, a leader in thecivil rights movement and close confidante ofMartin Luther King Jr. The organization mobilized gay and lesbian African Americans to aid in the passage of marriage equality in the state of California. According to its website, "the mission [of the JRC] is to empower Black same-gender loving, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals and families in Greater Los Angeles, to promote equal marriage rights and to advocate for fair treatment of everyone without regard to race, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression."
On March 27, 2000, a play based on Jordan's life premiered at the Victory Garden Theater in Chicago, Illinois.[75] EntitledVoice of Good Hope,Kristine Thatcher's biographical evocation of Jordan's life played in theaters from San Francisco to New York.[76]
In 2011, the Barbara JordanForever Stamp was issued. It is the 34th stamp in the Black Heritage series of U.S. stamps.[77]
In 2012, Jordan was inducted into theLegacy Walk, an outdoor public display which celebratesLGBTQ history and people.[78]
The Barbara Jordan Media Awards are given annually to media professionals and students who "have produced material for the public which accurately and positively reports on individuals with disabilities, using People First language and respectful depictions".[79]
... When she died, in 1996, her burial in the Texas State Cemetery marked yet another first: she was the first black woman interred there.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) at Beejae.com{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) at Human Rights CampaignCurtin, Mary Ellen.She Changed the Nation: Barbara Jordan's Life and Legacy in Black Politics. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2024.
Rogers, Mary Beth. 1998.Barbara Jordan: American hero.
| Texas Senate | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theTexas Senate from the11th district 1967–1973 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromTexas's 18th congressional district 1973–1979 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Keynote Speaker of theDemocratic National Convention 1976 Served alongside:John Glenn | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Keynote Speaker of theDemocratic National Convention 1992 Served alongside:Bill Bradley,Zell Miller | Succeeded by |
