Interactive Timeline and Gallery to Showcase Barbara Jordan’s Life

Feb. 20-24 in the Texas State Capitol Rotunda

Weeklong Tribute to Commemorate Barbara Jordan Freedom Week

In commemoration of Barbara Jordan Freedom Week, (week of February 21 -27) designated by the 82^nd Texas Legislature, a special interactive timeline and gallery showcasing Barbara Jordan’s life will be on display Feb 20-24 in the ground floor rotunda of the Texas State Capitol.

Designed to highlight Barbara Jordan’s lifetime of significant contributions to society as a politician, policymaker, activist and educator, the audio and visual tribute is sponsored by the Barbara Jordan Freedom Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded to continue Barbara Jordan’s fight against injustice, with funding from the Tocker Family Foundation. The displays are created from the archive housed at Texas Southern University, Barbara Jordan’s alma mater, with contributions from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, where she was a professor for 17 years. Texas State Senator Rodney Ellis is the legislative sponsor of the exhibit.

The display is free and open to the public and offers an overview of her life from childbirth to her death in 1996 and includes displays on her time serving in the Texas State Senate, her famous speech at the Democratic National Convention in 1976, her involvement in the Watergate Impeachment hearings as a U.S. Congresswoman, and many other eras of her life. The timeline will also feature audio and video of famous speeches and quotes from Barbara Jordan, and the gallery will also have photos and some important memorabilia from her life.

A native of Houston, Barbara Jordan was born in 1936 in Houston’s 5th Ward.  She majored in government studies and history at Texas Southern University and went on to law school at Boston University. She was the first African American elected to the Texas Senate after Reconstruction and the first African American female from the South elected to the United States House of Representatives.  After retiring from political life, Barbara Jordan became a professor at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin from 1979 until her death in 1996.

 More on the Barbara Jordan Freedom Foundation:

The Barbara Jordan Freedom Foundation (BJFF) is a new organization dedicated to perpetuating the legacy of Barbara Jordan by inspiring America to achieve the promise of freedom and justice for all people, by promoting the success of children through early childhood opportunities and effective education, and by confronting injustices and inequities in the juvenile and adult criminal justice systems.

For more on the 82^nd State Legislature’s concurrent resolution establishing Barbara Jordan Freedom Week, visit: http://www.sos.state.tx.us/statdoc/bills/scr/SCR10.pdf