Jordan, Vernon Eulion, Jr. (1935-2021), was an American civil rights leader and lawyer. He was head of the National Urban League from 1972 to 1981, when he resigned and joined a private law firm. Before Jordan assumed the leadership of the league, he had led drives to register African American voters in the South and to raise funds for Black colleges. In 1980, he was shot and seriously wounded by an assailant in Fort Wayne, Indiana. In late 1992 and early 1993, Jordan served as chairman of the group that helped U.S. President-elect Bill Clinton prepare for his presidency.
Jordan was born on Aug. 15, 1935, in Atlanta, Georgia. He graduated from DePauw University in 1957 and earned a law degree at Howard University in 1960. He then worked for an Atlanta civil rights lawyer. In 1961, a federal court ordered the University of Georgia to admit Black students. Jordan forced his way onto the campus through an angry white mob while escorting one of the first Black students admitted. In 1962, he led a boycott against stores in Augusta, Georgia, and persuaded them to hire Black employees.
From 1965 to 1969, Jordan served as director of the Voter Education Project of the Southern Regional Council. His success in registering nearly 2 million Black voters helped increase the number of Black officeholders in the South from about 72 to 564. Jordan received the Spingarn Medal in 2001 (see Spingarn Medal ). His autobiography, Vernon Can Read!, was published the same year. Jordan died on March 1, 2021.
