The Riveting Rosies

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Barbara Jordan

Barbara Jordan was the first African American to be elected to the Texas Senate, the first African American woman elected to Congress since 1898 in the Southern US, & the first female to be a keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention.

Barbara Charline Jordan was born in Houston, Texas on February 21, 1936. She was the youngest of 3 daughters born to Benjamin & Arlene Jordan.
- Her great grandfather was Edward Patton, one of the last African American members of the Texas House of Representatives prior to Jim Crow laws excluding Black Texans from participating & serving.
Barbara graduated from Phillis Wheatley High School in 1952, of course with honors, & attended Texas Southern University.
- Her first choice was the University of Texas at Austin, but UT was still segregated at the time.
- TSU was created to avoid desegregating UT, she was inaugural class
Barbara dominated at Texas Southern University, majored in political science & history, became a national debate champion (she beat fellow students from Yale & Brown, tied Harvard). During her time at Texas Souther University, she became a member of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority, Delta Gamma chapter.
After graduating magna cum laude, she attended law school at Boston University & graduated in 1959.
- One of 2 AA women in her class
She taught political science for a year at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, & returned to Houston in 1960 to open her own law practice.
Upon returning to Texas, Barbara served as a volunteer in JFK’s 1960 presidential campaign, & her efforts led to an 80% voter turnout in Harris County.
Barbara ran for the Texas House of Representatives in 1962 & 1964, but was not elected. But in 1966, she ran & won her seat in the Texas Senate, officially becoming the first African American senator in Texas since 1883 AND was the first Black woman to serve in the Texas State Senate.
- During her time in the Texas Senate, she focused her efforts on antidiscrimination, environmental, & urban legislation (all of which were quite challenging in the rural state Texas still is)
She was re-elected in 1968 & served until 1972 in the Texas Senate. During her time, she served as president pro tempore (elected by her peers), becoming the first African American female to do so, & even served for one day as acting governor of Texas on June 10, 1972. Thus, she became the first AA woman to serve as a state governor.
Barbara was elected to the US House of Representatives in 1972, becoming the first woman elected to represent Texas in the House.
- During her time in the US House of Representatives, she focused her efforts on legislation to strengthen the Voting Rights Act of 1965, expand worker’s compensation, & improve the lives of the poor, minorities, & disenfranchised citizens.
- She was a great legislator, eventually becoming known for her great ability to compromise with sacrificing her ideals but was still relatively unknown. She was also surrounded by white men, commonly racist & sexist
- President LBJ was a big supporter, & helped her get on the House Judiciary Committee
  - And here’s where Barbara is probably best known:
    - Barbara delivered a 15 minute speech to the US House Judiciary Committee during Richard Nixon’s impeachment process. This speech continues to be considered one of the most important & greatest speeches in 20th century America.
    - Already known for her staunch defense of the Constitution, her speech was intricately woven with urgings that Nixon was untrustworthy, that Americans would never trust the government again if not dealt with appropriately, support for the checks and balances system, & the facts definitely supported impeachment.
    - “I am not going to sit here & be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the destruction of the Constitution.”
    - Apparently she was like a celebrity after this speech – she earned national praise, people sent fan mail to her house.
In 1976, Barbara became the first AA & woman to deliver a keynote address at the Democratic National Convention, & helped to campaign for Jimmy Carter.
- She also apparently received one vote for president at the DNC.
Barbara served until 1979 & retired from Congress after 3 terms.
- But did she sit back & chill?
- She published her autobiography later that year, accepted an adjunct professor position at UT in the LBJ School of Public Affairs, served as an advisor on governmental ethics to Texas Governor Ann Richards, was a chairman in the US Commission on Immigration Reform, gave the 1992 keynote address at the DNC, & was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Bill Clinton in 1994.
  - Apparently Clinton considered nominating her to the Supreme Court but Barbara was already experiencing health issues
- Even though she wasn’t in Congress anymore, she still remained highly influential in politics & managed to squash Robert Bork’s nomination to the Supreme Court by George Bush.
Barbara had been experiencing multiple sclerosis since 1973. She was actually wheelchair-bound when she delivered the 1992 DNC keynote address.
She passed away on January 17, 1996 due to pneumonia, a complication of her leukemia.
Awards:
- Barbara was awarded some 25 honorary degrees, including from Harvard
- Inducted into the Texas Women’s Hall of Fame 1984
- National Women’s Hall of Fame 1990
- NAACP Spingarn Medal 1992
- Hobart & William Smith Colleges Elizabeth Blackwell Award 1993
- 1994 Presidential Medal of Freedom
- 1995: US Military Academy’s Sylvanus Thayer Award (second ever female)
Private life:
- Barbara was fiercely private about her personal life, including her health & relationships.
- It’s believed that her life partner was Nancy Earl, an educational psychologist Barbara met back in the 60s, & who eventually became Barbara’s caregiver as her health declined.
  - Nancy Earl also saved Barbara’s life when she almost drowned in the backyard swimming pool during physical therapy…
- The National Archives notes Barbara Jordan was the first LGBTQ+ woman in Congress.
Barbara Jordan became the first African American to be buried in the Texas State Cemetery, an honorary burial ground for politicians

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Barbara Lee

Representative Barbara Lee has served the people of California since 1998 & is the HIGHEST ranking African American woman in Democratic Leadership.

Born in a segregated El Paso, TX on July 16, 1946 to parents James Lewis and Mildred Massey
- Father was an Army veteran, mother “broke many glass ceilings and racial barriers” (lee.house.gov)
- Raised Catholic, attended St. Joseph’s Catholic School and was instructed by the Sisters of Loretto, an order devoted to promoting justice and peace
- Family moved to LA in 1960 for military reassignment, where Lee graduated from San Fernando High School in 1964
  - As a teen, loved music and won two music achievement awards from the Rotary Club and Bank of America
  - At age 16, Lee had an illegal abortion in Mexico “There were two things I was afraid of. First of all, that I was going to die because unsafe septic abortions were the main cause of death for black women in the 1960s. And that I was going to be put in jail.” (The Guardian US)
Lee enrolled in Mills College in Oakland, attended with public assistance as a single mother of two
- Was president of the Black Student Union, invited Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm (first AA woman elected to Congress) to speak on campus
- As a result, Lee registered to vote for the first time, served as Chisholm’s delegate at the 1972 DNC in Miami
- Volunteered for the Black Panther Party’s Community Learning Center, worked on mayoral campaign for Bobby Seale
Graduated with B.A. in psychology from Mills College in 1973, went on to obtain her MSW from Cal Berkeley in 1975
- Founded Community Health Alliance for Neighborhood Growth and Education (CHANGE), providing mental health services to vulnerable populations in the Bay Area
- Served as a legislative intern for Congressman Ronald Dellums while in grad school, and joined his staff upon earning her masters, rose to position of chief of staff
  - One of the few women and POC to hold a senior position on Capitol Hill
Continued to work with the congressman until she was elected to the California State Assembly in 1990, then California State Senate in 1997
- Elected to US Congress in a special election when Ron Dellums’ resigned and left a vacant seat
As a member of Congress, Lee has been heavily involved in issues surrounding education, public safety, environmental protection, health, labor, women’s rights, and gay rights
- Currently serves on the Budget Committee, Appropriations Committee
- Appropriations subcommittees: State and Foreign Operations; Labor, Health, and Human Services, Education; Agriculture, Rural Development, FDA)
- Co-chair of the Policy & Steering Committee
- Co-Chair of the Pro-Choice Caucus & Cannabis Caucus
- Former chair of Congressional Black Caucus, and co-chair of Congressional Progressive Caucus
Controversially, only member of Congress to vote no on Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists bill
- “I am convinced that military action will not prevent further acts of international terrorism against the United States…there must be some of us who say ‘Let’s step back for a moment and think through the implications of our actions today–let us more fully understand the consequences,’” for which she received death threats and required police protection
One of five Congress members arrested in 2005 for protesting outside the Sudanese Embassy in DC in response to ongoing genocide in the nation’s Darfur region
One of the most liberal and outspoken members of Congress
Her favorite color is orange, favorite time of year is summer, and favorite vacation spot is Granada (thehistorymakers.org)

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