Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson celebrates her re-election on Election Night in 2018 (David Taffet/Dallas Voice)

Legendary Texas lawmaker Eddie Bernice Johnson, a steadfast supporter of the LGBTQ and HIV/AIDs communities throughout her days in both the Texas Legislature and the U.S. House of Representatives has died at the age of 88.

Her son, Kirk Johnson, posted about her death this morning (Sunday, Dec. 31) on Facebook: “I am heartbroken to share the news that my mother, Eddie Bernice Johnson, has passed away. She was a remarkable and loving mother, mother-in-law, grandmother and great-grandmother, as well as a trailblazer and public servant. While we mourn the loss of an extraordinary woman, we celebrate her life and legacy.”

The staff of Dallas Voice offers our condolences to Congresswoman Johnson’s family as we also celebrate her life, her legacy and her unwavering support of our community.

Johnson was the first Black woman elected to any seat in Dallas and the first Black Dallasite to serve in Congress, according to The Texas Tribune.

In listing her many accomplishments and ground-breaking “firsts,” the Tribune described Johnson as “one of the most powerful Texas Democrats in recent history to serve on Capitol Hill.” The Tribune also noted that she was the lone Texas-based committee chair in either chamber when she became the chair of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee.

In other firsts, Johnson was the first nurse and the first Black Dallasite to serve in Congress and the third Texas woman (behind Lera Thomas and Barbara Jordan, both of Houston, elected to the U.S. House. Because Texas was segregated and had no nursing program that would admit her, after graduating from A.J. Moore High School, Johnson attended St. Mary’s College at the University of Notre Dame to get her nursing certificate in 1955. She earned a bachelor’s degree in science from Texas Christian University in 1967 and a master’s degree in public administration from Southern Methodist University in 1976.

After getting her nursing certificate, Johnson went to work for the V.A. Hospital in Dallas, where officials didn’t know when they hired her that she was Black. Despite was she later described as “overt racism” in Dallas, Johnson eventually became the chief psychiatric nurse and psychotherapist at the Dallas V.A. Hospital, the first Black nurse to achieve that title.

Johnson was first elected to the Texas House in 1972. During her third term in the Texas House, she resigned to accept a post as a regional appointee in the Carter administration for what is now the Department of Health and Human Services. In 1986, she returned to the Texas Legislature, this time as a senator, then was elected to Congress, representing Texas’ 30th District, in 1992.

Johnson easily won re-election to Congress every year thereafter until November 2021 when she announced she would not run for re-election. She instead endorsed Democraty Jasmine Crockett, who won the seat in 2022 and is running for re-election in 2024.

— Tammye Nash