…Barbara Jordan (1936 -1996)
The
First African-American Woman Everything
Barbara
Charline Jordan was born February 21, 1936, in Houston, Texas. Her two older
sisters and her parents, Ben and Arlyne Jordan, lived in an impoverished part
of town. She belonged to the honor society at Phyllis Wheately High School.
Jordan graduated magna cum laude from Texas Southern University in 1956, and
earned her law degree from Boston University in 1959. She then returned home to
Houston to practice law.
Jordan
was elected to the Texas Senate in 1966, becoming the first female
African-American to do so. In 1972, she was elected president pro-tempore of
the Texas Senate - the first African-American elected to preside over a
legislative body anywhere in the country. When Jordan was elected to the U.S.
House of Representatives in 1972 she became the first African-American woman to
represent a previously Confederate state in Congress.
In
1976, Barbara Jordan became the first African-American Woman to deliver a
keynote address at a political convention.
What is different? What is Special? I, Barbara Jordan, am a keynote speaker."
Barbara Jordan ~ July 12, 1976
Barbara
Jordan in the Spotlight
As
a member of the House Judiciary Committee, Jordan was in the national spotlight
during the Watergate hearings, that would eventually lead to the resignation of
President Nixon. Her style of oratory and clarity of vision on the issues made
her potential as a presidential candidate a topic of conversation among
liberals.
document was completed on the 17th of September in 1787, I was not
included in that 'We, the people. ' I felt somehow for many years that
George Washington and Alexander Hamilton just left me out by mistake.
But through the process of amendment, interpretation and court
decision, I have finally been included in 'We, the people, My faith
in the Constitution is whole, it is complete, it is total. "
Barbara Jordan ~ July 25, 1974
Jordan
retired from politics in 1979 after three terms in Congress and accepted a
position on the faculty at the University of Texas at Austin. Her battle with
multiple sclerosis (MS) was taking its toll on her health.
A
Very Significant Other
Barbara
Jordan lived with Nancy Earl in their home in Texas. The two met on a camping
trip in the 1960's and lived together for two decades. In 1976, they built a
house in Austin. There is no record of Jordan ever being asked about her sexual
orientation, but early in her career she was warned by campaign managers to
avoid being photographed with her female companion. This was before she met
Earl.
Jordan
was also very secretive about her health. She attributed her need of a cane in
her final days in Congress to a "bum knee." In actuality, it was the
progress of MS that inhibited her movement. In July 1988 Jordan nearly drowned
when she lost consciousness in her backyard swimming pool. It was Earl who
saved her life, resuscitating her and calling for help. Earl continued tending to
Jordan's daily needs through her battles with MS and leukemia for the remainder
of her life.
Nancy
Earl -- long time companion, co-owner of their home, executor of her estate,
primary care giver, and life-saver -- is often omitted from or trivialized in biographies
of Barbara Jordan.
America
Looses a Hero
Jordan
addressed the Democratic National Convention again in 1992 in New York. In 1994
she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest
civilian honor. Despite her declining health she continued to teach and serve
in public office, including a post on the Presidential task force on
immigration reform.
Jordan
died of pneumonia on January 17, 1996 at the Austin Diagnostic Medical Center.
She was eulogized by President Clinton and former Texas Governor Anne Richards,
both of whom extended specific condolences to Earl. On January 20, 1996 Barbara
Jordan was buried at the Texas State Cemetery which is an honor reserved for
Texas heroes. She was the first African-American woman to be buried there.
Learn
More About Barbara Jordan
- Read the text of her Keynote Address to the 1976
Democratic Convention.
- Read her autobiography
"Barbara Jordan: A Self-Portrait," Doubleday : 1979 ISBN: 0385135998.
- Read the article
"Barbara Jordan: The Other Life," in the March 5, 1996 issue of
the magazine "The Advocate."
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