Buried Treasures: the Barbara Jordan Archives: On This Date in 1977...

About Barbara Jordan

When Jordan was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1972 she became the first African-American woman to represent a previously Confederate state in Congress. In 1976 Barbara Jordan became the first African-American Woman to deliver a keynote address at a political convention, and Jordan addressed the Democratic National Convention again in 1992—to date, Jordan is the only person to have delivered the keynote address at the DNC twice. As a member of the House Judiciary Committee, Jordan was in the national spotlight during the Watergate hearings that would eventually lead to the resignation of President Nixon. Her style of oration and clarity of vision on the issues made her potential as a presidential candidate a topic of conversation among liberals. In 1994 she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom the nation's highest civilian honor. Despite her declining health she continued to teach and serve in public office including a post on the Presidential task force on immigration reform. Jordan died of pneumonia on January 17, 1996 at the Austin Diagnostic Medical Center. Jordan was eulogized by both President Clinton and former Texas Governor Ann Richards. On January 20, 1996, Barbara Jordan was buried at the Texas State Cemetery which is an honor reserved for Texas heroes. She is believed to be the first African-American to have been buried there.

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

On This Date in 1977...

Page from Jordan's
clippings scrapbook,
January-December 1977

On December 10, 1977, Congresswoman Barbara Jordan made the decision to leave office after three terms in the House of Representatives (1973-1978). The decision was surprising to some, probably because it happened so quickly and with little fanfare leading up to her decision. There has been much speculation over the reasons behind Jordan's decision to move on to other things: her health, disillusionment with the slow-moving processes to get things done in Congress, Carter's failure to nominate her to a cabinet position after his election, etc. There may be a grain of truth (or not) in some of the theories. Whatever Jordan's reasons, true to form, when her mind was made up, that was it. The end came quickly, Jordan finished her last term at the end of 1978 and moved on to teach at UT-Austin in the LBJ School of Public Affairs for the next 17 years.

Here are some items from Jordan's papers that document the end of her Congressional career.