Texas Southern
Which employer did Wallace Van Jackson work for from 1949 to 1954?
Wallace Van Jackson Wallace Van Jackson ( May 6 , 1900 – December 14 , 1982 ) was an American librarian and civil rights activist . He was the director of several academic libraries over his career and was respected for developing collections that promoted the history of African Americans ; he was also instrumental in creating reference services and building library collections for multiple libraries in Africa . Van Jackson was part of a group that successfully challenged voter discrimination against African Americans in 1944 in Atlanta , Georgia . Early life and education . Wallace Van Jackson was born in Richmond , Virginia on May 6 , 1900 . In 1934 he received bachelors degrees from Virginia Union University and a library science degree from Hampton Institute . The following year he earned a Masters of Arts in library science from the University of Michigan . He also studied at the University of Chicago Graduate Library School from 1939 to 1941 . Library career . Van Jackson was appointed as head librarian of Virginia Union University in 1927 and worked there until 1934 . While at VUU , he taught one of the earliest courses on African-American history . Beginning in 1941 , he taught reference and collection development at the Atlanta University School of Library Science . He became the first black librarian of Atlanta University in 1941 , serving in that position until 1947 . In 1947 he accepted an invitation to work for the United States Information Agency as a public affairs officer in Monrovia , Liberia . While abroad , he also attended the UNESCO Library School held in England as the representative of the Library of Congress . Van Jackson accepted an offer to head the library at Texas Southern University in 1949 . He brought the TSU library to national prominence with his work in creating a graduate school for African Americans and raising funds for library acquisitions as well as a new library building . He worked as a consultant for the Alabama State College from 1952 to 1954 , directing their book acquisition project and drawing up architectural plans for the library building . He became the library director at Virginia State College in 1954 , devoting most of his energy to the design of the Johnston Memorial Library . He helped establish library services during additional stays in Africa . From 1962 to 1963 , Van Jackson served as deputy director and acquisitions librarian of the National Library of Nigeria . In 1974 the Black Caucus of the American Library Association and the African-American Scholars Council sponsored his work as assistant to the librarian on the Swaziland campus of the University of Botswana , Lesotho and Swaziland ; he initiated the librarys reference service and created a plan for future development . While librarian at Mary Holmes College he taught courses in black history ; he also taught the African American studies course at Hampton Institute throughout the 1970s . He worked to develop the George Peabody Collection of Black materials at Hampton . Throughout his career , he was an energetic member and supporter of library organizations ; his service to the American Library Association included memberships on the Committee on Intellectual Freedom from 1952-1954 , the ALA Council from 1956-1960 , and the Committee on Economic Opportunity Programs from 1965-1967 . He wrote a number of articles throughout his career , including Some Pioneer Library Workers , the first published biographies of African-American librarians and Negro Library Workers , the first objective survey of African American library employees . Activism . At the 1936 conference of the American Library Association , held in Richmond , its black members were seated in segregated sections of meeting rooms and were forbidden to attend meal functions or register for conference hotel rooms . Van Jackson was outspoken in his criticism of ALA before and after the conference , describing the segregation of black librarians as a shameful slide backward in Library Journal . Several U.S . periodicals ( such as The Nation and The New Republic ) covered this incident in editorials ; because of Van Jacksons efforts , ALA adopted a policy that it would no longer meet in cities that did not guarantee equal accommodations for all ALA conference attendees . As Secretary of the Citizens Committee on Democratic Primaries , Van Jackson sued the registrar of Atlanta in July 1944 for refusing to send the names of black Americans to the polls , preventing them from voting . The case was settled out of court with the registrar agreeing to send the names to the polls . Recognition . During his time in Liberia in the 1940s , Van Jackson was awarded the Grade of Officer in the Order of the Star of Africa in consideration of meritorious and distinguished services rendered to the Republic of Liberia . Van Jackson was one of the ten winners of the American Library Associations 1976 Special Centennial Citation ; his citation read , in part : In 1972 he was honored as a life member of the Virginia Library Association .