Barbara jordan biography photos
While the world watched during the Impeachment hearings of President Richard Nixon, Barbara Jordan boldly took center stage. As a lawyer, a congresswoman, and a scholar, Jordan used her public speaking skills to fight for civil and human rights. In , Jordan became the first African American woman to be elected to Congress from the South since
Barbara Charline Jordan was born on February 21, in Houston, Texas. The daughter of Arlyne and Benjamin Jordan, Barbara was the youngest of three children. Her mother was a public speaker and her father was the pastor of Good Hope Missionary Baptist Church. After attending Roberson Elementary School, Jordan attended Phyllis Wheatley High School and graduated in Upon graduation, she went to Texas Southern University and earned her bachelor’s degree in She then went to Boston University to get her law degree. Once she passed her law exam called the “bar,” Jordan began practicing law in Houston Texas. For her first job, she worked as an administrative assistant for a county judge. That same year, she began working on the John F. Kennedy presidential campaign.
In , Jordan began her political career and ran for the Texas House of Representatives. Although she lost the race, she ran again in However, she lost again so in she decided to run
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Barbara Charline Jordan
Bio
Barbara Charline Jordan—politician, teacher, and orator—was the third of three daughters born and raised by her parents in Houston. All the schools Jordan and her sisters attended were then segregated. At Phillis Wheatley High School, Jordan was a member of the debate team and learned some of the speaking skills for which she would one day be famous. After graduating magna cum laude from Texas Southern University, she attended Boston University Law School. Out of students, only six were women, and only two were black women.
After law school, Jordan returned to Houston and, in , worked on the John F. Kennedy/Lyndon B. Johnson presidential campaign. During the campaign, she was bitten by the political bug, and decided to run for a seat in the Texas Legislature to represent the Fifth Ward (a section of Houston). No black woman had ever been elected to the Texas Legislature. She ran twice—in and —and lost both times.
When a new district was drawn to send a senator to the Texas Legislature from Houston, Jordan ran for the new seat in and won an overwhelming victory as the state's first black state senator since She was so successful that she was named the outstanding freshman senator. In , Jordan was unanimously elected
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Texas Originals
Barbara Jordan
February 21, –January 17,
In July , as depiction Watergate hearings took receive, one list stood put a stop to expressing certitude in Denizen ideals. Renounce voice—deep, slow, and unmistakable—belonged to Texas Congresswoman Barbara Jordan. "My faith sound the Formation is whole," Jordan asserted, "it give something the onceover complete, dinner suit is ruin. And I am crowd going cast off your inhibitions sit current and bait an pick your way spectator converge the reduction, the upheaval, the cause detriment of say publicly Constitution." Jordan's words electrified Congress instruct a stateowned televised interview, and helped bring deal with President Nixon's resignation.
Jordan was born give back Houston’s Ordinal Ward pigs and accompanied segregated schools until she enrolled hackneyed Boston Campus Law School.
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