Today In Black History
Barbara Jordan
Issue #463 Today In Black History, Thursday, January 17, 2024
Today’s Black History WOW!
Barbara Jordan was born on February 21, 1936, and was the first African American woman elected to the Texas Senate and the first Southern African American woman elected to the United States House of Representatives.
Jordan excelled in academics and graduated magna cum laude from Texas Southern University. She then went on to earn a law degree from Boston University.
Barbara Jordon was a member of Delta Sigma Theta, Inc. Sorority.
In 1966, Jordan made history by becoming the first African American woman elected to the Texas Senate. During her tenure, she sponsored numerous bills aimed at improving education, healthcare, and social services.
In 1972, Jordan was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and served three terms, as a vocal proponent of civil rights and social justice. She played a key role in the impeachment proceedings against President Richard Nixon, delivering a powerful opening statement during the House Judiciary Committee hearings.
Throughout her career, Jordan championed the rights of women, minorities, and the economically disadvantaged. She believed in the power of government to effect positive change and fought against discrimination in all its forms. Jordan once famously stated, "What the people want is simple. They want an America as good as its promise."
After retiring from politics in 1979, Barbara Jordan served as a professor at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin and was a sought-after public speaker. Jordan also received numerous awards and honors, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.
Jordan died at the age of 59 of complications from pneumonia and leukemia on January 17, 1996, in Austin, Texas.
Barbara Jordan was interred in Texas State Cemetery, the first African American to receive this honor. Jordan's grave rests near that of the "Father of Texas" Stephen F. Austin.
Today’s Black History
- In 1775, the West India Committee was founded in London by London sugar merchants and Caribbean planters. The Committee initially promoted slavery but later aided in the campaign to end slavery.
- In 1862, the Confederate Territory of Arizona was formed.
- In 1948, the first courses began at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
- In 1949, Congressman William L. Dawson was elected chair of the House Expenditures Committee, becoming the first African American to head a standing Congressional committee.
- In 1966, Robert C. Weaver became the first Black presidential cabinet member when he was sworn in as Secretary of Housing and Urban Affairs in the Johnson Administration.
- In 1975, “The Jeffersons,” one of the first sitcoms about an African-American family, premiered on national television.
- In 1993, the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday was first observed in all 50 states.
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