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Barbara Jordan - Teacher, Patriot, Champion

Breaking Down Barriers - When Barbara Jordan Was First

Barbara Jordan's life was filled with many memorable contributions to her state and country. Her tireless devotion to social justice and national unity included ensuring greater civil rights for all minorities, calling those who held public office to a higher ethical standard and defending the Constitution during some of the nation's greatest legal trials. Gifted with a rich voice that she emphasized with flawless diction, Jordan could be counted on to speak the right words at the right time, with an unmistakable authority on the subjects which she addressed.

Though never one to confine herself only to issues of race, Jordan became a standard bearer for breaking the nation's shameful legacy of discrimination. She regularly broke down barriers that often kept woman and minorities from being able to participate fully in all their country promised. Despite growing up in Houston's segregated Fifth Ward, Jordan never failed to invest herself in the opportunity to affect the future through her efforts to bring down barriers; racial, economic and social. Throughout her life, she would become known as a woman of "firsts," a number of which are highlighted here.

I feel that notwithstanding the past, that my presence her is one additional bit of evidence that the American Dream need not forever be deferred. 19776 Democratic National Convention Keynote AddressBarbara Jordan Firsts

  1. Member of the first debate team from a black university to compete in the forensic tournament held annually at Baylor University.

  2. Served as administrative assistant to the County Judge of Harris County, becoming the first African-American woman to hold that position.

  3. First African-American state senator in Texas since the Reconstruction period following the Civil War.

  4. Author of the first successful minimum-wage bill in the state of Texas.

  5. Served as "Governor for a Day" while president pro-tempore of the Texas Senate in 1972, becoming the first African-American woman to serve as chief executive of any state in the union.

  6. Along with Andrew Young of Georgia, first African-American Southerner to be elected to the U.S. Congress since Reconstruction.

  7. First African-American woman from the South to be elected to the U.S. Congress.

  8. First African-American Texan elected to Congress.

  9. First woman and the first African-American to deliver the keynote address to the Democratic National Convention.

  10. First African-American buried in the Texas State Cemetery in Austin.

 

 

Images courtesy of the Barbara Jordan Archives, Robert J. Terry Library, Texas Southern University