Jordan, Barbara Charline (1936-1996), became the first African American woman from the South to serve in the United States Congress. Jordan, a Texas Democrat, was a member of the House of Representatives from 1973 to 1979. In 1976, she became the first black keynote speaker at a national convention of the Democratic Party.
Jordan was born on Feb. 21, 1936, in Houston. She graduated from Texas Southern University. She went on to receive a law degree from Boston University. Jordan served in the Texas Senate from 1966 to 1972. She was the first black to hold a seat there since 1883. In 1979, she became a professor at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas. In 1992, Jordan received the Spingarn Medal for her service in Congress. In 1993, President Bill Clinton appointed her as chair of the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform. She died on Jan. 17, 1996.
