Inventory of the Roberta H. Jackson and Blyden Jackson Papers, 1955-1991

Collection Number 4646

Manuscripts Department, Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Contact Information:

Manuscripts Department

CB#3926, Wilson Library

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, NC 27514-8890

Phone: 919/962-1345

Fax: 919/962-3594

Email: mss@email.unc.edu

URL: http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/

Descriptive Summary

Repository

Southern Historical Collection

Creator

Jackson, Blyden.
Jackson, Roberta H.

Title

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

Call Number

4646

Language of Materials

Materials in English

Extent

Items: About 7,000

Linear Feet: 11.5

Administrative Information

Restrictions to Access

No restrictions.

Usage Restrictions

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

Acquisitions 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

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.

Copyright Notice

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

Online Catalog Headings

These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs.

African American authors--North Carolina.

African American authors--Study and teaching.

African American college administrators--North Carolina--History--20th century.

African American college teachers--Louisiana--History--20th century.

African American college teachers--North Carolina--History--20th century.

American literature--Study and teaching--Southern States.

Jackson, Blyden.

Jackson, Roberta H..

Journal of southern literature.

North Carolina Humanities Council.

Southern University and A & M College--Faculty.

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill--Faculty--History--20th century.

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dept. of English.

Related Collections

Records of the Associate Dean/Special Assistant to the Dean of the Graduate School (40108)
Records of the Department of English (#40081)
Louis Decimus Rubin Papers (#3899)

BiographicalNote

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.

Collection Overview

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.

Arrangement of Collection

1. Southern University
2. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
3. Professional Activities
4. Writings

Items Separated

Items separated include audiotapes (T-4646), audiocassettes (C-4646), and a videotape (VT-4646).

Detailed Description of the Collection