Leon
Jordan
Leon
Jordan was born on this date in 1905.
He was an African-American teacher, police
detective and politician.
From Kansas City Missouri, He graduated
from Wilberforce University, in Wilberforce,
Ohio, and later worked as a social caseworker
and teacher.
In 1938 he joined the Kansas City Police
Department, working for 16 years and becoming
the first African-American to achieve
the rank of lieutenant. He was granted
an extended leave of absence in 1947 and
lived for eight years in the West African
country of Liberia, where he reorganized
a 450-man police force.
He left police work soon after his return
from Liberia and launched both a business
and political career. Jordan was first
elected to public office in 1958. He founded
Freedom, Inc. in 1962, with Bruce Watkins,
his longtime friend and ally in inner-city
political affairs. The club was established
to give Black voters more influence and
to develop Black candidates for political
office. In 1963, under Jordan's leadership
and with a public accommodations ordinance
on the ballot, Freedom, Inc. conducted
one of the most massive voter registration
drives ever seen in Kansas City.
Jordan was elected to the Missouri House
of Representatives in 1964. In 1970, Leon
Jordan was perhaps the most powerful African-American
in the state of Missouri. He also owned
and operated the Green Duck tavern. Jordan
was assassinated (shot at close range
in a gangland-style killing) in the early
morning hours of July 15, 1970, as he
was closing his tavern. Although charges
were brought against two individuals,
no one was ever convicted and Jordan's
murder remains unsolved.
The Leon M. Jordan Memorial Park at 31st
Street and Benton Boulevard, which features
a statue of the slain leader, was dedicated
in 1975.
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