Jackson, Blyden

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.

From the guide to the Roberta H. Jackson and Blyden Jackson Papers, 1955-1991, (Southern Historical Collection)