On day one of the Barbara Jordan Exhibit at the Texas Capitol, its coordinator, Sam Bryant, was reviewing his work.
"Her life continues to live even though she is no longer alive," Bryant said.
Bryant said there are many things most of us already know about Jordan: that she was a three-term congresswoman from Texas; that she taught at the University at Texas LBJ School of Public Affairs for 17 years; and that she was a great speaker.
She is well-known for her speech at Richard Nixon's impeachment proceedings in 1974. It was 2:00 in the morning before she was allowed to speak. That speech is part of this exhibit.
Here's a snippet:
"My faith in the Constitution is whole, it is complete, it is total and I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the destruction of the Constitution."
Jordan was a first in so many arenas. The first African American to serve in the Texas Senate. The first African American woman elected to Congress from the South. And the first African American woman to deliver a keynote address at the Democratic National Convention.
But Bryant said many don't know much about her beginnings.
"She actually taught at Tuskegee University early on, she taught politics immediately after law school and we may not know she was actually a lawyer in Houston," Bryant said.
Jordan facts are on full display until Saturday, Feb. 16 at the Capitol Extension on the North Central Gallery Rotunda.
The Barbara Jordan Freedom Foundation is putting on this free exhibit highlighting the great Texan and American hero.