Eddie Bernice Johnson started writing Texas political history at age 36. It was in San Antonio, June 1972, when she overpowered the party establishment’s pick to win election as vice chair of the Texas Democratic Convention.
The newspapers reporting on the event called her a “Negro,” the style of the moment. She declared her breakthrough victory a first step.
She was elected to the Texas House later that year as sweeping social change driven by the civil rights movement was washing over Texas. Johnson placed herself at the forefront, tapping the country’s last great wave of liberalism to fashion the voices of millions of demonstrators into laws that helped break down segregation.
