Barbara Jordan Dies; Feminist, Texas Civil Rights Advocate
A consistent defender of civil rights and civil liberties, Barbara Jordan, died on this day.
Jordan was the first African-American elected to the Texas Senate after Reconstruction and the first southern African-American female elected to the U. S. House of Representatives. On July 12, 1976, she became the first African-American woman to give the keynote address at a Democratic Party convention.
Jordan received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award, from President Bill Clinton, in August 1994.
Read: Mary Beth Rogers, Barbara Jordan: American Hero (2000)
Read about the unveiling of the statue of Jordan at the University of Texas:
https://www.utexas.edu/news/2009/04/24/barbara_jordan_statue_unveiled/Watch Barbara Jordan’s Keynote Address at the 1976 Democratic National Convention: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bg7gLIx__-k
Read an oral history interview with Barbara Jordan: http://www.lbjlibrary.net/collections/oral-histories/jordan-barbara.html