Barbara Charline Jordan

Congresswoman Barbara Jordan represented the 18th Congressional District of Texas from 1973 to 1979 (93rd-95th Congresses). She was the first African American to represent Texas and the first African American woman to represent a southern state in the U.S. House of Representatives. Her committee assignments included the Judiciary and Government Operations committees. A lawyer, Jordan also was a member of the Texas Senate, a delegate to two Texas State Democratic Conventions, a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1968, and a keynote speaker at the National Convention in 1976. After her service in Congress, she taught public policy at the University of Texas at Austin and served on the Commission on Immigration Reform. Jordan received her bachelor’s degree from Texas Southern University. She also earned her law degree from Boston University School of Law.