THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

For information, to donate or to volunteer, go to www.legacyprojectchicago.org

SPONSORED BY GERBER/HART LIBRARY/FISCAL AGENT

BARBARA JORDAN (U.S. Congresswoman - Educator - Constitutionalist)

(1936 — 1996)

Barbara Jordan grew up in the black ghetto of Houston, Texas. She attended segregated public schools, and an all-black college, where she graduated magna cum laude. She was first elected to the Texas legislature in 1966 and, from 1973 to 1979, served in the U.S. House of Representatives, the first black woman from a Southern state to do so. A gifted speaker, in 1974, she made an influential, televised speech before the House Judiciary Committee supporting the impeachment of President Richard Nixon. She also became the first African-American woman to deliver the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention — a speech that was ranked 5th in "Top 100 American Speeches of the 20th Century" list and was considered by many historians to have been the best convention keynote speech in modern history. Suffering from Multiple Sclerosis, Jordan retired from politics in 1979 and became an adjunct professor teaching ethics at the University of Texas at Austin. Thanks to the power of her oratory, she had earned a lasting reputation as a powerful force in American politics and, in 1990, was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame as one of the most influential women of the twentieth century. In 1992, she was again the keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention at which she nominated President Bill Clinton. In 1994, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Her health in decline, she died on January 17, 1996, survived by her partner of 30 years, Nancy Earl. On April 24, 2009 a statue was dedicated in her memory at the University of Texas.

BAYARD RUSTIN (U.S. Civil Rights Activist and Writer)

(1910 — 1987)

In 1947 Rustin spent almost a month on a chain-gang in North Carolina as punishment for helping organize the first freedom ride in protest of segregation on buses. As director of A. Phillip Randolph's Committee Against Discrimination in the Armed Forces, Rustin was instrumental in obtaining President Harry S. Truman's 1948 order to integrate the U.S. military. Rustin served as Martin Luther King, Jr.'s chief political advisor, strategist and speech-writer, organizing all of King's major civil rights actions, most notably the watershed 1963 March on Washington, where Dr. King delivered his "I Have A Dream" speech. Through much of his career Rustin's private life was an issue of contention. In 1963, shortly before the March, conservative (and unabashed segregationist) Strom Thurmond of South Carolina took to the floor of the U.S. Senate and accused him of being a Communist, a "draft-dodger" and a homosexual. Despite widespread pressure from other civil rights activists to fire Rustin, Randolph and King remained steadfast in their support. Rustin was an early advocate of what came to be called "Rainbow Politics" which strategically linked the aims of the Gay and Lesbian Rights Movement with the struggle for racial and economic justice.

GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER (US Botanist, Agronomist, Educator and Inventor)

(1864 — 1943)

Though he was born into slavery, George Washington Carver struggled and persisted in his quest for an education in the early years of the post-Civil War South. After obtaining his Master's degree, Carver was invited to lead the Agriculture Department at the Tuskegee Institute in 1896 and remained there for 47 years. Because decades of aggressive cotton farming had depleted the soil of vital nutrients, Carver's research focused on finding crop alternatives to cotton — such as peanuts and sweet potatoes — which he wanted poor farmers to grow as a source of food and other products to improve their quality of life. Carver's scientific achievements challenged racial stereotypes, eventually making him the most famous African-American of his time. Business leaders like Henry Ford came to seek his advice, as well as American presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge and Franklin Roosevelt. Though his renown helped to raise the profile of Tuskegee (along with desperately needed funds) administrators worried about potential scandal from the persistent rumors of his homosexuality — especially after 1935 when Carver established a life and research partnership with Austin W. Curtis, Jr. that endured until Carver's death in 1943. Rumors aside, on July 14, 1943, President Franklin Roosevelt authorized $30,000 for the George Washington Carver National Monument — the first to be dedicated to an African-American and also the first to a non-President. Though numerous awards and accolades have been bestowed upon Carver, his most enduring tribute comes perhaps from the American Public School system and the several dozen elementary schools and high schools which bear his name.

JOSEPHINE BAKER (African-American Entertainer Who Became a French Citizen)

(1906 —1975)

Born to a humble working-class mother, Josephine Baker grew up cleaning houses and babysitting for wealthy white families who reminded her to "be sure not to kiss the baby." She dropped out of school and lived on the streets of St. Louis where her street-corner dancing led to a career in Vaudeville during the Harlem Renaissance. In 1925 Baker joined La Revue Nègre in Paris where her performances made her an overnight sensation in integrated Paris society. In 1937 she became a French Citizen. During the Nazi occupation, Baker became part of the French Underground, smuggling intelligence coded within her sheet music to the resistance in Portugal. In recognition of her services she was made a Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur by General Charles de Gaulle. During a US visit after the war Baker was refused service at New York's popular Stork Club. A media fire-storm ensued, gaining her both national acclaim and scorn for refusing to entertain in any venue that was not integrated. Baker was the only woman to speak at the March on Washington in 1963. She opened at Carnegie Hall in 1973 to a standing ovation; finally receiving in the US the recognition long accorded her in Europe. On April 8, 1975, Baker debuted in a sold-out Paris retrospective celebrating her 50 years in show business. Four days later, at the age of 68, she suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and died. She was the first American woman to be buried with full French military honors. It was confirmed after Baker's death in a biography written by her son that she had been openly bisexual throughout her life.