Katie Jordan:
2006 Recipient of the WWHP’s Mother Jones Award Winner
Posted July 25th, 2006
By Joan McGann Morris On Wednesday, March 22nd
Katie Jordan, President of CLUW, Coalition of Labor Union Women, Chicago Chapter, UNITE HERE, was honored by the Working Women’s History Project at their 2006 Gala held at Roosevelt University. Jordan was this year’s recipient of the WWHP’s Mother Jones Award for her lifelong fight for working women’s rights.
Jordan was born in a tiny town in Tollette, Arkansas and then was raised in Mineral Springs, which barely had a thousand people. Jordan said her mother always taught her “to always respect other people and demand respect for yourself.” She moved to Hot Springs at 15, worked, went to school, married and had three children. Later, she became their sole support along with one of her brothers. Jordan moved to Chicago in 1960, where a nephew joined the Jordan household. There, she got a job at Lytton’s Department store, where she became their first African American woman tailor, fitter. In 1963, Lytton’s became a union shop as part of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers. Jordan quickly gained the respect and trust of her co-workers as someone who would always tell them to hold their heads up and speak out for what’s right. And in 1977 as shop steward, Jordan fought and won a battle for equal pay for the women fitters. In 1976, she became a member of CLUW, the Coalition of Labor Union Women, which is -the only national organization that unites women from all unions. Later, she succeeded Johnnie Mae Jackson as CLUW’s Chicago Chapter’s President. She feels that if women are taught and given a chance, there is nothing women can’t accomplish. She sees the Chicago CLUW’s particular role is in educating women and encouraging them to become leaders. The union gives women that chance to succeed and support their families. The Working Women’s History Project was honored to give Katie Jordan this year’s Mother Jones award.