Westport Center for the Arts offers Barbara Jordan production

Rep._Barbara_JordanAudiences will meet an influential female politician and stateswoman in a production Sept. 27 called “The Life and Times of Barbara Jordan.”

The Westport Center for the Arts and the Kansas City Public Library production features actress Jacqeline L. Gafford in the role of Jordan as a professor. As a way of setting expectations for her class, she details her path from college professor and lawyer to an influential congresswoman whose work during the Watergate hearings was instrumental in forcing Richard Nixon from office.

In 1966, Jordan became the first African American to be elected to the Texas Senate. She was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1972, becoming the first woman to represent Texas in Congress. During the Watergate Hearings, Jordan’s speech about Nixon’s involvement in the Watergate scandal and reasons for his impeachment is widely regarded as influential.

Gafford has been an actress, stage manager and director in the Kansas City area for more than 25 years. She has worked with the Theatre for Young America, Unicorn Theatre, The Coterie, UMKC Theatre Department, Lawrence Community Theatre, Rockhurst University and The Just Off Broadway Theatre.  She is the artistic director of Inplay Theatre Company.

Details

  • “The Life and Times of Barbara Jordan” at 2 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 27, at the Lucille H. Bluford Branch of the Kansas City Public Library.
  • Admission is free.
  • Financial assistance for this project has been provided by the Kansas City Public Library, Missouri Arts Council, a state agency, and ArtsKC-Regional Arts Council.

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