[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 106 (Friday, July 1, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1015]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 REMEMBERING BARBARA CHARLINE JORDAN, FIRST WOMAN AND AFRICAN AMERICAN 
      TO DELIVER KEYNOTE ADDRESS AT DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, July 1, 2016

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise to commemorate an historic 
event.
  Forty years ago this month, on July 12, 1976, the legendary Barbara 
Charline Jordan, who held the seat I now hold made history when she 
became the first woman and the first African American to deliver the 
Keynote Address at the Democratic National Convention, that nominated 
Jimmy Carter in New York City.
  Barbara Jordan indeed was a friend to many, a mentor, and an icon.
  Barbara Jordan was one of the first two African-Americans from the 
South to be elected to this body since reconstruction; the other was 
Andrew Young of Georgia.
  Barbara Jordan was a renaissance woman, eloquent, fearless, and 
peerless in her pursuit of justice and equality.
  Barbara Jordan was the first black woman elected to the Texas Senate.
  Ms. Jordan graduated from Texas Southern University, where she 
majored in government and history.
  While at Texas Southern University, Barbara Jordan was an active 
student and an esteemed member of the prestigious debate team for 4 
years, as well as a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.
  After graduating magna cum laude from Texas Southern University in 
1956, she went on to receive her law degree from Boston University in 
1959.
  She exhorted all of us to strive for excellence, stand fast for 
justice and fairness, and yield to no one in the matter of defending 
the Constitution and upholding the most sacred principles of a 
democratic government.
  Barbara Jordan retired from Congress in 1978 after serving 3 terms 
and was appointed a distinguished professor at the Lyndon B. Johnson 
School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin.
  Barbara Jordan was a lawyer, legislator, scholar, author, and 
presidential adviser.
  Barbara made history again in 1976, when she became the first African 
American woman to deliver keynote speeches at a Democratic National 
Convention.
  She was immensely gifted, and used every bit of her talent and skill 
to address, improve, and dignify the conditions of human life.
  In the tradition of Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King, and 
Thurgood Marshall, Barbara Jordan challenged the Federal Government and 
the American people to uphold the principles set forth in the United 
States Constitution and the fabric of our social mores.
  Barbara Jordan made a difference and because of her contributions, 
America is a better place.

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