Thousands Gather To Say ‘Thank You For Being Barbara’

Before President Clinton, a packed Baptist church of 1,500 people and hundreds more who listened to loudspeakers outside in a soft drizzle, Barbara Charline Jordan of Texas was remembered Saturday as “an American original and a national treasure” and was eulogized by her pastor as a woman who intuitively “understood where to invest her hope.”

The body of the former congresswoman, the first black elected to the House from Texas since Reconstruction, was brought home Saturday to Houston’s Fifth Ward neighborhood, where she grew up. She died Wednesday at the age of 59.

The two-hour service at the Good Hope Missionary Baptist Church was punctuated both by repeated applause and soft murmurs of “Amen,” as when actress Cicely Tyson said of Ms. Jordan: “If I were sitting on a porch across from God, I would thank him for sending you to us.”

Former Gov. Ann Richards of Texas, who, along with Clinton, was one of eight people to offer reflections on Ms. Jordan’s life, praised her fight for civil rights and her often-eloquent celebrations of the U.S. Constitution by saying of the former congresswoman and government scholar: “There was simply something about her that made you proud to be a part of the country that produced her.”

People started to line up at the church at 5 a.m., and many who were forced to remain outside nonetheless hailed the event as a significant one in their own lives or those of their children.

“This is a chance for him to do something historical, a chance to honor someone great in our community,” said Delvin Kendrick, a pharmacist, clutching the hand of his 10-year-old son Shantez in one of his own hands and a video camera in the other.

Despite the gathering of mourners and the presence of Ms. Jordan’s open coffin, the service was described repeatedly as a celebration, and there were many moments of humor.

The audience dissolved into long laughter and cheers when Mayor Bob Lanier of Houston, noting Clinton’s affection for Ms. Jordan, said of him: “The president must have some attachment for strong women.”

Clinton, in his remarks, told the audience that he had been nervous enough to be giving a speech on race and the Constitution at the University of Texas last fall, on the same day of the Million Man March. But he said he had become even more nervous when he noted Ms. Jordan’s presence in the audience.

“I think it was the nearest experience on this earth to the pastor giving a sermon with God in the audience,” Clinton said.

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, who followed Mickey Leland and Craig Washington in holding Ms. Jordan’s congressional seat, remembered her “jewel of a voice” and said she had been “particularly charged to hold up the ethical litmus test for politicians in America, and she was not afraid to do so.”

Ms. Jordan was buried wearing the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civilian honor, which Clinton gave her in 1994.

The president said, “Barbara always stirred our national conscience.”

The congregation Saturday included members of Ms. Jordan’s family, and her debate coach at Texas Southern University, Dr. Thomas F. Freeman, as well as a host of Cabinet members and current and former members of Congress.

The church was full and outside, the sound of the loudspeakers carried for several blocks.

Freeman amused the audience with recollections of how he had encouraged Ms. Jordan to speak in her deep, distinctive voice and elaborate syntax.

But he also stirred them at the end, with many people breaking into tears, when he said simply: “Barbara, Barbara, Barbara, we thank you for just being Barbara.”