In
1972, Barbara Jordan, a leader in the Civil Rights Movement, became
the first African-American woman elected to Congress. Despite
suffering from multiple sclerosis, she excelled in her political
career, and captured national attention with insightful speeches
and questioning as a member of the House Judiciary Hearings during
the impeachment hearings for Richard Nixon in 1974. Her progressive
legislative achievements included helping to expand the Voting
Rights Act to protect minorities that spoke other languages, and
the Community Reinvestment Act, which required banks to invest
in poor and minority communities. In 1976, she was chosen to deliver
the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention - the
first African American woman ever to do so. Many historians consider
her speech one of the best ever delivered at a political convention.
Barbara Jordan left Congress in 1979 to serve as a professor at
the LBJ School at the University of Texas, where she taught for
the rest of her life. For a lifetime of achievement, Barbara Jordan
received many awards and accolades, including the Presidential
Medal of Freedom. A statue of Barbara Jordan was unveiled at the
University of Texas in Austin, and in 1999, Texas Monthly Magazine
named her "Role Model of the Century."
