![]() ![]() She soon became a candidate herself, running twice but without success for the Texas House of Representatives in the early sixties. Following a year’s stint on the faculty at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, she came back to Houston and set up a private law practice.Ī Texas legend becomes a national treasure…Īfter her return to Texas, Barbara expanded into politics, serving as a high-profile campaigner for JFK during the 1960 presidential election. After graduating magna cum laude in 1956 from Texas Southern University, where she was also a champion debater, Barbara earned a law degree from Boston University. ![]() Sampson (who later became the first black judge in Illinois) inspired Barbara to become an attorney. The daughter of laborers and church leaders, Barbara grew up in Houston’s culturally-diverse Fifth Ward district, where she was an honor student at a segregated high school named in honor of Phillis Wheatley, the first African-American woman to publish a book of poetry.Ī speech by African-American lawyer Edith S. But Barbara Jordan wasn’t just a “first”-she was one of a kind. Many trailblazing women are noted for being the first to do something. They want an America as good as its promise.”-Barbara Jordan, from her 1977 commencement address at Harvard University. She was also the first woman to keynote the Democratic National Convention. ![]() Noted For: Barbara Jordan was a Texas attorney who became the first African American (in the post-Reconstruction era) elected to the state senate, and the first African-American woman from the South elected to the United States House of Representatives. News & World Report Collection at the Library of Congress. Barbara Jordan was a trailblazing legislator, gifted orator, and legendary stateswoman. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |