

(1936-1996)
- 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.
- 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.
- 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. President Clinton and former Texas Governor Anne Richards, both of
whom extended specific condolences to Earl, eulogized her. 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