African American Women Activists- Gertrude Jackson

This month at its commencement ceremony UALR will award an honorary doctorate to Marvell civil rights activist Gertrude Jackson. Black women like Jackson were often crucial in mobilizing local communities. Jackson was born in Madison, Illinois, and moved to an area near the Turner community in the Arkansas Delta at a young age to operate the family’s small farm. In the 1960s, Jackson and her husband Earlis invited the area Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee to hold weekly meetings to give people an outlet to air grievances. In 1966, the Jacksons led a boycott of schools and launched a lawsuit for desegregation that was upheld by the courts. Jackson later helped to establish the Boys, Girls, Adults Community Development Center in Marvell that is aimed at developing the full potential of poor children and their families. I’m John Kirk of the UALR History Department and this has been an Arkansas moment.