Barbara Jordan

Barbara Jordan
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Texas's 18th district
In office
January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1979
Preceded byBob Price
Succeeded byMickey Leland
Member of the Texas Senate
from the 11th district
In office
January 10, 1967 – January 3, 1973
Preceded byBill Moore
Succeeded byChet Brooks
Personal details
Born
Barbara Charline Jordan

(1936-02-21)February 21, 1936
Houston, Texas, U.S.
DiedJanuary 17, 1996(1996-01-17) (aged 59)
Austin, Texas, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Domestic partnerNancy Earl (late 1960s–1996)
EducationTexas Southern University (BA)
Boston University (LLB)

Barbara Charline Jordan (February 21, 1936 – January 17, 1996) was an American lawyer, educator,[1] and politician. A Democrat, she was the first African American elected to the Texas Senate after Reconstruction, the first Southern African-American woman elected to the United States House of Representatives,[2] and one of the first two African Americans elected to the U.S. House from the former Confederacy since 1901, alongside Andrew Young of Georgia.

Jordan achieved notoriety for delivering a powerful opening statement[3] at the House Judiciary Committee hearings during the impeachment process against Richard Nixon. In 1976, she became the first African-American, and the first woman, to deliver a keynote address at a Democratic National Convention. She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, among numerous other honors. She was the first African-American woman to be buried in the Texas State Cemetery.[4][5] Jordan is also known for her work as chair of the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform.

  1. ^ Finkelman, Paul (2009). Encyclopedia of African American History 1896 to the Present: From the Age of Segregation to the Twenty-First Century. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 59–61. ISBN 978-0-19-516779-5.
  2. ^ Clines, Francis X. (January 18, 1996). "Barbara Jordan Dies at 59; Her Voice Stirred the Nation". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 22, 2016.
  3. ^ "JORDAN, Barbara Charline | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives". history.house.gov. Retrieved October 22, 2016.
  4. ^ "Barbara Jordan". Humanities Texas. Retrieved February 18, 2016. ... When she died, in 1996, her burial in the Texas State Cemetery marked yet another first: she was the first black woman interred there.
  5. ^ Wilson, Scott. Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed.: 2 (Kindle Location 24267). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Kindle Edition

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