Jacquelyne Jackson

Jacquelyne Mary Johnson Jackson (February 24, 1932 – January 28, 2004) was an American sociologist, educator, and researcher on issues that affect elderly minority populations. She was involved in public policy debates on programs for this group for over 30 years. From 1978, she started a dialogue on social security accessibility for elderly minorities in consideration of sociological influence.

Early life and education

Jacquelyne Mary Johnson and her fraternal twin sister, Jeanne Naomi Johnson were born on February 24, 1932, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Her parents were James and Beulah Johnson. Jacquelyne was raised in Tuskegee, Alabama.

Jackson started her career when she witnessed an elderly couple that was forced to sell their home in order to have money for medical care, since there was no Medicare or Medicaid at the time. The couple was forced into public housing as a result. The result of the couple losing their home and life savings drove Jackson to pursue a career addressing the issues of elderly minorities as well as public service law and civil rights issues. Jackson attended Hampton Institute in 1950 for two years and pledged Delta Sigma Theta sorority there and then transferred to Wisconsin. Initially intending on being a lawyer she was influenced by two key professors at Wisconsin and later at Ohio State. She was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1953. She received her Master's of Science in sociology from the same university in 1955. At Ohio State University she received her Doctorate in Sociology in 1960.

Career and research She started her post-doctoral work in 1961 at the University of Colorado-Boulder. As a part of her academic career, she did post-doctoral work at Duke University becoming the second Black professor and first Black female professor, after the first Black professor Dr. Samuel Dubois Cook, from 1966 to 1968 and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in the years 1977–78.

Awards and honors

Jackson earned multiple fellowships, including being named the John Hay Whitney Fellow of 1957–59, a National Science Foundation Fellow beginning in 1959, and National Institutes of Health Fellow 1966–1968 and 1977–1978. She has also received awards from the American Psychiatric Association, the American Society of Black Sociologists, and Ohio State University. She appeared numerous times before Congress as well as on the popular PBS show The Constitution: That Delicate Balance, featuring Fred W. Friendly and guest legal scholars and experts.

Selected writings

Books These Rights They Seek. Public Affairs Press, 1962. Minorities and Aging. Wadsworth Publishing Co., 1980.

Periodicals

"Aging Black Women and Public Policies," The Black Scholar, (May/June 1988) "Them Against Us: Anita Hill v. Clarence Thomas," The Black Scholar, (Winter 1991/Spring 1992) "Race-based Affirmative Action: mend it or end it?" The Black Scholar, (Summer 1995.) "The Bell Curve: what's all the fuss about?" The Black Scholar, (Winter 1995) "The Bell Curve (Book Review) intelligence and class structure in American Life," The Black Scholar, (Winter 1995) "But Where Are the Men?" - Ebony 1972 (also featured in Black Scholar)