From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Barbara Jordan
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 18th district
In office 1973–1979
Succeeded by	Mickey Leland
Born	21 February 1936(1936-02-21) Houston, Texas
Died	17 January 1996 (aged 59) Austin, Texas
Political party	Democratic
Profession	Attorney
Religion	Baptist

Barbara Charline Jordan (February 21, 1936 – January 17, 1996) was an American politician from Texas. She served as a congresswoman in the United States House of Representatives from 1973 to 1979.

Biography

Jordan campaigned for the Texas House of Representatives in 1962 and 1964.^[1] Her persistence won her a seat in the Texas Senate in 1966, becoming the first African American state senator since 1883 and the first black woman to serve in that body.^[1] Re-elected to a full term in the Texas Senate in 1968, she served until 1972. She was the first African-American female to serve as president pro tem. of the state senate and served one day, June 10, 1972, as acting governor of Texas.

In 1972, she was elected to the United States House of Representatives, becoming the first black woman from a Southern state to serve in the House. She received extensive support from former President Lyndon Johnson, who helped her secure a position on the House Judiciary Committee. In 1974, she made an influential, televised speech before the House Judiciary Committee supporting the impeachment of President Richard Nixon.

Jordan was mentioned as a possible running mate to Jimmy Carter in 1976,^[1], and that year she became the first African-American woman to deliver the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention.^[1] Her speech in New York that summer was ranked 5th in "Top 100 American Speeches of the 20th century" list and was considered by many historians to have been the best convention keynote speech in modern history. Despite not being a candidate Jordan received one delegate vote (0.03%) for president at the convention.

Jordan retired from politics in 1979 and became an adjunct professor teaching ethics at the University of Texas at Austin Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. She again was a keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention in 1992.

In 1995, Jordan chaired a Congressional commission that advocated increased restriction of immigration, called for all U.S. residents to carry a national identity card and increased penalties on employers that violated U.S. immigration regulations.^[2][3] Then-President Clinton endorsed the Jordan Commission's proposals.^[4] While she was Chair of the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform she argued that "it is both a right and a responsibility of a democratic society to manage immigration so that it serves the national interest.” Her stance on immigration is cited by opponents of current US immigration policy who cite her willingness to penalize employers who violate US immigration regulations, to tighten border security, and to oppose amnesty or any other pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants^[5] and to broaden the grounds for the deportation of legal immigrants.^[6]

Legislation

Congresswoman Barbara Jordan

She supported the Community 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 the Voting 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 Governor Dolph Briscoe and Secretary of State Mark White.

Personal life

In 1973, Jordan began to suffer from multiple sclerosis. She had difficulty climbing stairs, and she started using a cane and eventually a wheelchair. She kept the state of her health out of the press so well that in the KUT radio documentary Rediscovering Barbara Jordan, president Bill Clinton stated that he wanted to nominate Jordan for the United States Supreme Court, but by the time he could do so, Jordan's health problems prevented him from nominating her.^[7]

Jordan's companion of close to 30 years was Nancy Earl. Jordan met Earl, an educational psychologist who would become an occasional speech writer in addition to Jordan's partner, on a camping trip in the late 1960s.^[1] Jordan never publicly acknowledged her sexual orientation, but in her obituary, the Houston Chronicle mentioned her long relationship with Earl, interpreted to confirm her being a lesbian.^[8][9] However, Jordan biographer Mary Beth Rogers, author of "Barbara Jordan: American Hero," found no conclusive evidence to suggest that the former congresswoman was a lesbian.^[10] After Jordan's initial unsuccessful statewide races, advisers warned her to become more discreet and not bring any female companions on the campaign trail.^[1][11]

Jordan narrowly escaped death by drowning in July 1988, when Earl pulled her from their backyard swimming pool.^[12] Her death in 1996 was caused from complications of pneumonia.^[13]

Awards, honors and memorials

Barbara Jordan Memorial at UT Austin

In 1993, Jordan was honored with the Elizabeth Blackwell Award from Hobart and William Smith Colleges. Jordan was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994. The many other honors given to her include her election into both the Texas and National Women's Halls of Fame; she was awarded the prestigious United States Military Academy's Sylvanus Thayer Award, becoming only the second female awardee.

Upon her death on January 17, 1996, Jordan lay in state at the LBJ Library on the campus of The University of Texas at Austin. She was buried in the Texas State Cemetery in Austin, and was the first black woman interred there. Her papers are housed at the Barbara Jordan Archives at Texas Southern University.

The main terminal at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport is named after her, as are an elementary school in Odessa, Texas, a middle school in Cibolo, Texas; a high school in Houston and a YMCA in Martinsville, Indiana.^[14]

The Kaiser Family Foundation currently operates the Barbara 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.

On March 27, 2000, a play on Jordan's life premièred at the Victory Garden Theater in Chicago, Illinois.^[15] Titled, "Voice of Good Hope", Kristine Thatcher's biographical evocation of Jordan's life played in theaters from San Francisco to New York. ^[16]

On April 24, 2009, a Barbara Jordan statue was unveiled at the University 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).^[17]

Many of her speeches have been collected in a 2007 publication from the University of Texas Press, Barbara Jordan: Speaking the Truth with Eloquent Thunder."[1]

References

External links

	Houston portal
	African American portal

• Barbara Jordan at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Barbara Jordan at Find a Grave
• Jordan's Statement on the Articles of Impeachment During the Nixon Impeachment Hearings in Text and Audio from AmericanRhetoric.com
• Jordan's 1976 Democratic National Convention Keynote Address in Text and Audio from AmericanRhetoric.com
• Jordan's 1992 Democratic National Convention Address in Text and Audio from AmericanRhetoric.com
• Barbara Jordan, Governor of Texas for a day, program of ceremonies, June 10, 1972, hosted by the Portal to Texas History
• Interview with Max Sherman, editor of Barbara Jordan — Speaking the Truth with Eloquent Thunder on kaisernetwork.org