11th Day of Women's History Month: Barbara Jordan

I've been interested in Barbara Jordan since I saw her on my television when I was in junior high--she was on the House panel investigating Watergate.

Barbara Jordan was born February 21, 1936 in Houston, Texas.  She credited her maternal grandfather for instilling in her a sense of pride in herself (something that was much needed as a black child in the segregated South), but credited her native state for her confidence:  “I get from the soil and spirit of Texas the feeling that I, as an individual, can accomplish whatever I want to, and that there are no limits, that you can just keep going, just keep soaring.  I like that spirit.”  She was a good student, and even in high school, Barbara stood out as a gifted orator, winning a national oratorical competition in her senior year.  She attended Texas Southern University, and became a highly regarded member of the debate team.  However, as the only female member of the team, she was not allowed to travel to away meets with the team.  You see, in the 1950’s in the South, it was hard enough to find accommodations for the black, male members of the team, and next to impossible to make the same arrangements for a black female.  

          Barbara Jordan ventured north for law school—she was one of six black students in the Boston University class of 1959, and one of two women.  After graduation, she taught at Tuskegee University in Alabama, and shortly thereafter became only the third African American woman licensed to practice law in the state of Texas.  But, as she remembered it, “by the time the Kennedy-Johnson campaign ended successfully, I had been bitten by the political bug.”   In 1962, Jordan ran for the Texas House of Representatives, and was defeated in that election and the next.  But, refusing to give up, she ran for, and was elected to, the Texas State Senate in 1966.  Barbara Jordan said she didn’t try to stand out in the State Senate, which was an overwhelmingly white, male political body.  As she said, “I was coming to be a senator, and I wasn’t coming to lead any charge.  I was not coming carrying the flag and singing, “We Shall Overcome”.  I was coming to work and I wanted to get THAT message communicated personally.”  Jordan found that she could be most effective for the largest number of people by doing her homework and keeping her word—things that were held in high regard by other legislators. 

          In 1972, Barbara Jordan was elected to Congress—the first black woman ever elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from a southern state.  She was an advocate for civil rights, suggested extending Social Security benefits to homemakers, and sponsored a bill that would extend the deadline for the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment.  But she was probably best remembered for her role as a member of the House Judiciary Committee, which in 1974 was charged with investigating the Watergate break-in.  During these hearings, Jordan was again recognized by the entire country for her great oratory skills.  One memorable quote: “My faith in the Constitution is whole, it is complete, it is total.  I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the…subversion, the destruction of the Constitution.”  Perhaps because of her national notoriety, Jordan was also the first woman ever invited to give a keynote speech at the Democratic Convention, doing so in 1976.   Although she gave up public office in 1979 due to health reasons—she had MS—she continued to teach and advise Texas politicians.  And in 1992, she delivered a second keynote speech at the Democratic convention.  It was in this speech that she perhaps felt able to speak quite frankly, and she urged this country to include African-Americans and women as full participants in society.   She said, “We are one, we Americans, and we reject any intruder who seeks to divide us by race or class.  We honor cultural identity.  However, separation is not allowed.  Separation is not the American way.”  However, she did take heart in the signs of change she did see, which included women officeholders in greater numbers, challenging traditional political power structures.  Concluding, she said, “That horizon is limitless.  What we see today is simply a dress rehearsal for the day and time we meet in convention to nominate…..Madame President.”