BARBARA JORDAN'S MYRIAD ACCOMPLISHMENTS, the most memorable was her election to the Texas Legislature in 1966, a victory which made her the first African American and only woman to serve in the State Senate during her first term. In 1972 she was elected to the United States House of Representatives, where she served until 1979. From 1979 until her untimely death in 1996, Jordan served as a professor at the LBJ School of Public Affairs.

The highlights of her legislative career include her landmark speech during Richard Nixon's impeachment hearings; her appearance as the first black woman to make a keynote address to the Democratic National Convention; and her successful efforts in 1975 to expand the Voting Rights Act to include language minorities under the law.

The list of accolades bestowed on Barbara Jordan is rich and varied. She was recently named Role Model of the Century by Texas Monthly magazine (December 1999).

Jordan was born February 21, 1936, one of three daughters of a poor preacher in Houston. She attended public schools and graduated from Texas Southern University, where she majored in political science, and received her law degree in 1959 from Boston University.

"Serve others, not yourself: Mentoring Texas"
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