Barbara Charline Jordan -- 1st Black Congresswoman From Houston, Texas

(February 21, 1936 – January 17, 1996)

Barbara Charline Jordan was born in Houston, Texas’s Fifth Ward.^[2] Jordan’s childhood was centered on church life. Her mother was Arlyne Patten Jordan, a teacher in the church, and her father was Benjamin Jordan, a Baptist preacher.

Barbara Jordan was the youngest of three children, with siblings Rose Mary Jordan McGowan and Bennie Jordan Creswell (1933–2000). Jordan attended Roberson Elementary School.She graduated from Phillis Wheatley High School in 1952 with honors.

However,  because of segregation, she could not attend The University of Texas at Austin and instead chose Texas Southern University, an Historically-Black Institution, majoring in political science and history.

At Texas Southern University,  Jordan was a national champion debater, defeating opponents from Yale and Brown and tying Harvard University.  She graduated magna cum laude in 1956.

At Texas Southern University, she pledged Delta Gamma chapter of Delta Sigma Theta sorority.  She attended Boston University School of Law, graduating in 1959.