Label
Born February 21, 1936, in Houston, TX
Died January 17, 1996, in Austin, TX
When Barbara Jordan was elected to the Texas Senate in 1966, she became the first Black senator to sit in that body since 1883. She was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1972 and served for three highly visible terms. From 1979 to 1982, she was a professor at the Lyndon Baines Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, ultimately becoming chair of the program. She was elected to the National Women’s Hall of Fame, and received over 20 honorary degrees from universities across the country. President Clinton honored her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994.