Barbara Jordan

Biography

Barbara Charline Jordan was born in Houston's Fifth Ward, the daughter of a Baptist minister and a domestic worker, and grew up in the very community this market serves. A debater and orator of extraordinary talent from Phyllis Wheatley High School, she earned degrees from Texas Southern University and Boston University School of Law. After three unsuccessful campaigns, she won election to the Texas Senate in 1966 — the first African American woman to do so — and in 1972 became the first Black woman from the South elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. That summer her electrifying keynote address at the Democratic National Convention made her a national figure; two years later, her speech opening the House Judiciary Committee's impeachment hearings against President Nixon was hailed as one of the great orations of the 20th century. After leaving Congress in 1979 she became a professor at the University of Texas, an adviser to presidents, and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994.

• First African American woman elected to the Texas Senate (1966) and the first Black woman from the South elected to the U.S. Congress (1972)
• First African American woman to deliver a keynote address at a major party's national convention (Democratic National Convention, 1976)
• Her 1974 impeachment hearings speech is ranked among the greatest American political speeches of the 20th century
• Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1994), the nation's highest civilian honor
• Secured millions in federal funding for Houston's Fifth Ward and championed the extension of the Voting Rights Act of 1965

Historical Significance

Jordan shattered barriers in Texas politics and redefined who could hold national power. As a legislator she delivered tangible results for Houston's Black communities — her work on the Community Reinvestment Act helped channel credit into neglected neighborhoods, a direct heir to the Black Wall Street tradition of economic self-determination. Her 1974 speech reminded the nation that the Constitution belongs to everyone, delivered by a woman whose ancestors had been excluded from it.

Legacy

Barbara Jordan remains Houston's most beloved political daughter. Austin's airport bears her name, a statue stands on the University of Texas campus, and the Barbara Jordan Boulevard in Houston honors her Fifth Ward roots. Her eloquence set the standard for American oratory, and her life — from Fifth Ward to the halls of Congress — embodies the promise this market exists to celebrate: that Houston's Black community has always produced leaders who shape the nation.

Interesting Facts

Sources & Further Reading

Credible references for the information presented on this page.

• Jordan, Barbara Charline (1936–1996) Texas State Historical Association — Handbook of Texas
• Barbara Jordan U.S. House of Representatives — History, Art & Archives
• Barbara Jordan Presidential Medal of Freedom The White House Historical Association