The Hon. Barbara Jordan was born in Houston, Texas, in 1936, and attended Texas Southern University. As the first Black woman elected to the Texas Senate and later the first Southern Black woman to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, Jordan made history twice. Her speech during the 1974 Watergate hearings, where she defended the Constitution with clarity and conviction, made headlines nationwide. Jordan spent her career pushing for civil rights, voting protections, and ethical government. A member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., she taught public affairs at the University of Texas. Her voice-measured, powerful, unforgettable, still echoes in conversations about justice and leadership.
