Who Was Barbara C. Jordan?

Barbara C Jordan was born in Texas on February 21, 1936, and was raised there. During high school, she decided to become a lawyer, but was unable to attend University of Texas at Austin due to the segregation laws.

Instead, Barbara graduated with a law degree from Boston University School of Law, and taught Political Science at Tuskegee University before deciding to delve into politics herself.

She became the first African-American elected to the Texas Senate since the Reconstruction Period. She served for six years before moving over to Congress, where she served another six years, where she fought for the advancement of fair employment, antidiscrimination laws, and civil rights.

President Nixon’s Impeachment Trial Opening Speech

Barbara is best known for her opening speech during President Nixon’s impeachment trials in 1974, where she stated that although the Constitution did not include her in the original “We the People,” she believed strongly in its words as a guiding document for how our government should run.

After she retired from Congress, she continued her influence by teaching at University of Texas – Austin, the very school that denied her admission years before.

Barbara lived a quiet personal life, and all that is known is that she lived with a woman named Nancy Earl for over twenty years before Barbara’s death in 1996.