On this day in New York · July 15, 1976
New York Hosts a Convention and Barbara Jordan Steals It
A nearly bankrupt city threw open Madison Square Garden for the Democrats, and a congresswoman from Texas gave the keynote that outlasted everything else said that week.
The facts
- Dates
- July 12 to 15, 1976
- Venue
- Madison Square Garden, Manhattan
- Nominee
- Jimmy Carter of Georgia, nominated on the first ballot
- Keynote
- Barbara Jordan, the first Black woman to keynote a Democratic convention
From July 12 to 15, 1976, the Democratic National Convention met at Madison Square Garden and nominated Jimmy Carter for president. For New York the timing carried weight: the city had come within hours of default the year before, and hosting the convention was a bet that the country still needed its largest city. The moment people remembered did not belong to the nominee. Barbara Jordan of Texas, delivering a keynote address, became the first Black woman to keynote a Democratic convention, and her voice filled the Garden. Carter accepted the nomination on the night of July 15 and went on to win the White House that fall.
In their words
The day in the words of the people who were there. Every quote is verbatim, and every source links out so you can check it.
-
We are a people in search of a national community.
Barbara Jordan, keynote address, 1976 Democratic National Convention, New York City, July 12, 1976
Source: Barbara Jordan, 1976 DNC Keynote Address (American Rhetoric transcript)
Why it still matters
The convention put New York back on the national stage a year after Washington nearly let it sink, and it made the city a Democratic showcase again. Jordan's speech is still taught as one of the finest pieces of American political oratory, and it was delivered on a New York stage.
Sources
Get the day it happened, the day it happens.
Every morning brief ends with this day in New York history, and every day adds a page to this almanac. Free, in your inbox.
Free to start. The unsubscribe link actually works.