Roberta H. Jackson and Blyden Jackson Papers, 1955-1991

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Summary

Creator:
Jackson, Blyden. and Jackson, Roberta H.
Abstract:

Roberta H. Jackson (1920-1999), African American professor of education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, was married to Blyden Jackson (1910-2000), African American professor of English and dean of the Graduate School at Southern University in Baton Rouge, La., and professor of English at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Blyden Jackson wrote novels and works on African American and southern literature. He also served from 1973 to 1981 as the Assistant Dean/Special Assistant to the Dean of the Graduate School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, charged with promoting the recruitment and retention of minority graduate students and working with the University's Student Aid Office to secure scholarships and fellowships for graduate students.

The collection includes office files, correspondence, and other papers relating to African American college teachers Roberta H. Jackson and Blyden Jackson. Most papers relate to Blyden Jackson's teaching of and research on African American literature in the English Department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill or to his work recruiting minority students as Assistant Dean/Special Assistant to the Dean of the Graduate School. Other papers relate to Blyden Jackson's work as a member of faculty committees and still others result from his other activities, including editing the Journal of Southern Literature and serving on the North Carolina Humanities Council. Also included are letters, 1959-1963, that Blyden Jackson wrote while teaching at Southern University in Baton Rouge, La., to Roberta H. Jackson, in Bluefield, W.Va.

Extent:
7,000 items (11.5 linear feet)
Language:
Materials in English
Library Catalog Link:
View UNC library catalog record for this item

Background

Biographical / historical:

Roberta Bowles Hodges Jackson was the first African American woman appointed to the faculty of the Academic Affairs Division of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in a tenure track position. Four years later, in 1974, she was the first African American woman to achieve tenure. Her husband, Blyden Jackson, was the University's first African American full professor. Roberta H. Jackson taught in the School of Education. Blyden Jackson taught in the English Department and was associate dean of the Graduate School.

Born in Germantown, N.C., on 23 February 1920, Roberta Bowles was one of ten children of Roberta, a school teacher, and George Bowles, a coal miner. She graduated from Byrd Prillerman High School in London, W.Va., as valedictorian. She earned a bachelor's degree from Bluefield State College in West Virginia, a master's degree in education from Ohio State University, and a doctorate in education from New York University. She taught at Southern University in Louisiana before joining the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1970. She retired in 1981. She died on 11 July 1999. She had one son, James Edward Hodges, Jr.

Blyden Jackson was born in Paducah, Ky., in 1910. His father was a history teacher and school principal and his mother was a librarian. Jackson earned a bachelor's degree from Wilberforce University in 1930. He began graduate work at Columbia University, but had to stop for financial reasons. After obtaining a scholarship, he earned a master's degree and a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. He taught in a junior high school in Louisville, Ky.; at Fisk University in Nashville, Tenn.; and at Southern University in Baton Rouge, La. He came to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1969 as the University's first African American full professor. He was a pioneer in the study of African American literature. As associate dean of the Graduate School, Jackson helped recruit minority graduate students to the University. He retired in 1981. After his retirement, Jackson completed the first volume of a planned four-volume history of African American literature, which was published in 1989. Blyden Jackson died in 2000.

Scope and content:

The collection includes office files, correspondence, and other papers relating to African American college teachersRoberta H. Jackson and Blyden Jackson. Most papers relate to Blyden Jackson's teaching of and research on African American literature in the English Department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill or to his work recruiting minority students as Assistant Dean/Special Assistant to the Dean of the Graduate School. Other papers relate to Blyden Jackson's work as a member of faculty committees and still others result from his other activities, including editing the Journal of Southern Literature and serving on the North Carolina Humanities Council. Also included are letters, 1959-1963, that Blyden Jackson wrote while teaching at Southern University in Baton Rouge, La., to Roberta H. Jackson, in Bluefield, W.Va.

Acquisition information:

Received from Roberta and Blyden Jackson in January and February 1993 (Acc. 93012 and 93031).

Processing information:

Processed by: Linda Sellars and Nancy Kaiser, September 2004

Encoded by: Linda Sellars and Nancy Kaiser, September 2004

Updated by: Nancy Kaiser, January 2021; Anne Wells, February 2021

Sensitive materials statement:

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

Access and use

Restrictions to access:

No restrictions. Open for research.

Use of audiotapes or videotapes may require production of listening or viewing copies.

Access to streaming audio or moving image materials may be restricted to researchers who can authenticate with an ONYEN or who are physically present on campus. For further information about access to streaming audiovisual materials, contact Research and Instructional Services staff at Wilsonlibrary@unc.edu.

Restrictions to use:

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

No usage restrictions.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], in the Roberta H. Jackson and Blyden Jackson Papers #4646, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Location of this collection:
Louis Round Wilson Library
200 South Road
Chapel Hill, NC 27515
Contact:
(919) 962-3765
wilsonlibrary@unc.edu