 |
Jordan with the Clintons
and sisters Rose Mary (left)
and Bennie, 1994. |
August 8, 2013 marks the 19th anniversary of the
presentation of the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Barbara Jordan. The Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian
award in the United States and is not limited to just American citizens. President Bill Clinton presented Jordan with
her award in Washington with then-First Lady (now former Secretary of State) Hillary
Clinton and with Jordan’s sisters Rose Mary and Bennie in attendance.
In an interesting twist of fate, activist and former Delta
Sigma Theta National President Dorothy Height also received the Medal of
Freedom the same day as Jordan; forty-one years earlier, Height had signed the
pledge certificate when Jordan was inducted into the Texas Southern University chapter
of the Deltas as a sophomore.
 |
President Clinton speaks at the induction
ceremony. Dorothy Height is seated just
behind the President's right. |
Jordan was very proud of her Medal of Freedom honor and felt
it to be among her best accomplishments. The
Barbara Jordan Archives holds only a facsimile of the award--the original medal
was buried with Jordan in 1996.
For more information about other recipients of the
Presidential Medal of Freedom, click
here.
On August 27, 1984, the main city post office at 401 Franklin in Houston was dedicated in Barbara Jordan's name. The ceremony was attended by a who's who of Houston and Texas politics. Though Jordan had been out of politics for some five years at the time, as the article notes people still took the opportunity to ask if Jordan would consider a return to the political stage. (She refused.)
This was the first time that Jordan was honored by the United States Postal Service, but not the last--she received her own postage stamp in 2011. 
