Barbara C Jordan Elementary School: It's Story
by Bonita Jamison
The History of Barbara C. Jordan
In 1930, the University City School District built a temporary
building for students in the newly annexed far northwest part of
the city, naming it Daniel Boone School. The students had
previously gone to the two-room Mount Olive School at 7800 Olive
(demolished in 1988). The population of this area, known as
Darstdale, grew slowly until the building boom following World War
II, at which time the present building was built in 1951. The
design of the building is modern in form but includes some
imaginative interpretations of traditional features, notably a
tower with chamfered corners and a panel of decorative brickwork,
and the corbelled brick piers supporting the porch roof. In 1996,
the school was re-named the Barbara C. Jordan Elementary School for
the distinguished black U.S. Representative from Texas (1972-1978)
who became known nationally when she delivered the keynote address
at the 1976 Democratic National Convention. Barbara Jordan died in
1996. The school is adjacent to Fogerty Park.
