Gertrude Newsom Jackson

## Early Life

Gertrude Jackson was born in Madison, Illinois, in 1923. She later moved to Arkansas because her father took over the family cotton farm. In Arkansas, she had to walk four-to-five miles to get to school, and at her school in Illinois only had to walk a block or two. Her school was a one-room school that had sixty students from first to eighth grade. After she graduated from the one-room school, she went to Marvell's high school, which only went up to the tenth grade. She would have finished her high school career in Helena; however, her mother got sick and did not go any further. A couple of years later, she received her GED and went to college for three years. In an interview, Jackson was asked if she noticed any "flagrant discrimination.” She said that she didn't recognize any discrimination in Illinois or Arkansas, but she did see the difference between her school and the white schools. In her interview, she stated,"...the other schools, the white schools, just beautiful and all together, and the white children rode the bus to school, but we walked." She also mentioned that as the bus passed her and her peers, the white students would yell discriminatory words, such as “n\*\*\*\*\*.”

## The Marvell Community

### Marvell School District

One of the first instances where Jackson got involved in her community was the Marvell school district. In that area, there was a school that had students from six surrounding communities. The school was newly built, and after three-to-four years, the sewage began to flood the school. Jackson and her husband went to the school board because the students were the ones cleaning up the mess. The school board’s response to this problem was,"'Oh they just don't know how to use the bathroom." The Jacksons decided to take action into their own hands by boycotting the school. Mr. Jackson went door-to-door, asking the parents to keep their children from school the following Monday. The school remained vacant for the rest of the year. Eventually, the school board fixed the issue, but the story was not in the newspaper.

### The Community Center

When Jackson was working at Mid-Delta, she wanted a place where children would have the opportunity to come and learn. Mr. Gale Throw, an agriculture teacher, suggested turning the extra space in her office into a place where the children could go and said that he would fix it up as well. She said she "...wanted every child in the district to have seen a book before they go to school." She got retired teachers, Maxine Hathaway and Anna May Smith, to help with a head start. They would go to different houses and read to the kids, buy them easels so they can paint, and bring nurses from a town nearby to give the kids shots to go to school. Afterward, they found the BGACDC, received a grant, and got a building for the community center.

#### BGACDC

The BGACDC stands for the Boys Girls Adult Community Development Center. As mentioned above, Jackson was one of the people that founded this organization, and is known as the ambassador of the Center. The activities they have go with their four main component areas: youth and family services, economic development, housing, and an administrative area.

The youth and family services offers the Delta Reach and Teach Program, which is an after school program where teenagers in high school help tutor kids as young as six-years-old to fourteen-years-old. In the summertime, they partner with the USDA and the FDA to participate in the Delta Obesity Research Project.

In the economic area, they have the BFT, which is the best food in town. This gives people in the community an opportunity for employment, and serving,"the best food in town". They also have a summer program for youth and middle-aged people to be hired for a summer job.`

For housing, they have the BGACDC Manor, which is a low-income housing project for the city of Marvell. They have one-three bedroom units, standalone units, and rental properties that people can use. The goal of the Manor,"...is to provide decent and affordable housing for low-income families..."

## Working in the Civil Rights Movement

Jackson first found about the Movement when her neighbor, Overtis Adams, and some more civil rights workers invited them to their meetings. SNCC workers were also in the area, and they would have meetings in a church on Thursday nights. At these meetings, they would explain what the civil rights movement is and would encourage people to "...stand up and be bold and let's get something done." However, many people were afraid to "be bold" because they didn't want to lose their job or deal with the possible repercussions. Some people had crosses burned into their yards and even planned attacks against them for joining the Movement. Jackson was one of the people who had crosses burned in their yard, but instead of the act making her fearful, it motivated her and made her stronger.

### Integration in Schools

When schools were ordered to integrate, the school decided that the first year they would integrate first grade through third grade, and the next year they would move onto fourth grade through eighth grade. Blacks had to choose whether they wanted to go back to their former school or the white school. However, the school never sent the choice form. At a meeting, they decided to go ahead and take their children to the white school with or without the form. Word got out that the children were going to school, and there were numerous people with rifles in the back of their truck waiting for them to arrive at school. After that, they decided to boycott the school and teach the children at a local church.

Eventually, a couple of people wanted to take action and go to court. Jackson and her husband were the only ones that volunteered to go to court. Owen Harris, the judge, ruled that the schools should integrate, and instead of having two buses for whites and blacks, there would only be one bus that would pick all of the children up. She mentioned before the schools were integrated, as she and her children would wait for the bus, they would say, "the bus is coming," and one of them would respond with "white or black?" When schools became integrated, the same conversation would happen, except when asked "white or black,” her son responded, "yellow.”

## Conclusion

Gertrude Jackson contributed over sixty years to fight for racial equality. She has,"...received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letter at UALR's fall commencement ceremonies for many contributes to civil rights..." Jackson was known as a,"...dynamo and a source of inspiration." When asked how much Jackson helped her community, her grandson replied,"...it's been hundreds and hundreds of kids and families that she's affected..." She was a core leader in her community whether t dealt with civil rights or helping the community as a whole.

## References

Boys, Girls, Adult Community Development Center

Gertrude Jackson: Sixty Years of Work for Social Justice

Gertrude Newsome Jackson

Gertrude Newsome Jackson Obituary

SNCC Digital Gateway: Gertrude Jackson