Barbara Jordan
Biography
Barbara Jordan was born in Houston's Fifth Ward and graduated magna cum laude from Texas Southern University in 1956 before earning her law degree from Boston University in 1959. She entered politics in 1966, becoming the first Black state senator in Texas since Reconstruction. In 1972, she was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as the first Black woman elected to Congress from a Southern state.
Jordan gained national prominence through her service on the House Judiciary Committee during the 1974 Watergate hearings. Her constitutional argument during the Nixon impeachment proceedings became one of the defining speeches of the hearings. In 1976, she became the first woman and first African American to deliver a keynote address at a Democratic National Convention. After leaving Congress in 1979, she became a professor at the University of Texas at Austin and later chaired the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform.
Jordan lived with Nancy Earl, her longtime companion, for more than two decades. Jordan never publicly characterized the nature of their relationship during her lifetime, but the National Archives now recognizes her as a lesbian woman and an important figure in LGBTQ+ history. She died in Austin in 1996.
BQW Impact
Barbara Jordan's significance to BQW rests at the intersection of Black political leadership, women's history, and LGBTQ+ history. She became one of the most influential Black women in American politics while maintaining a decades-long relationship with another woman during a period when publicly identifying as lesbian could carry significant professional and political consequences.
Her legacy also demonstrates the importance of preserving Black queer history that was not publicly identified in its own time. Jordan's political career, constitutional advocacy, and documented relationship with Nancy Earl provide an important record of Black women's leadership and queer history in American public life.
Notable Works
Statement on Articles of Impeachment (1974)
Landmark congressional address delivered by Jordan during the House Judiciary Committee's consideration of articles of impeachment against President Richard Nixon.
Democratic National Convention Keynote Address (1976)
Historic keynote speech that made Jordan the first woman and first African American to deliver a keynote address at a Democratic National Convention.
Barbara Jordan: A Self-Portrait (1979)
Autobiographical book written by Jordan with Shelby Hearon and published following her retirement from Congress.
Learn More
National Museum of African American History and Culture
Institutional biography covering Jordan's political career, education, public service, and legacy.
Detailed historical biography documenting Jordan's Texas political career, congressional service, education, and legacy.
Historical resource documenting Jordan's place in LGBTQ+ history.
Archival collection documenting Jordan's papers and political career at Texas Southern University.