Barbara Jordan

Born in Houston, Texas, Barbara Charline Jordan was one of three daughters. Barbara earned a Bachelor of Arts from Texas Southern University in 1956 and a law degree from Boston University in 1959. In 1960, Barbara’s political career took off when she worked on John F. Kennedy’s presidential campaign. During this time, she managed a get-out-the-vote program that served Houston’s 40 African American precincts.

In a room full of white, male senators, Barbara started to crack away at her worthy reputation as one of the legislators who pushed through bills establishing anti-discrimination clauses in business deals, Texas’s first minimum wage law, and the Texas Fair Employment Practices Commission. In 1972 her peers voted her president pro tempore of the Texas senate, making her the first Black woman to lead a legislative body.