Sara Dunlap Jackson

Sara Dunlap Jackson (May 28, 1919 – April 19, 1991) was an American archivist. She was one of the first African American employees of the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, D.C., where she specialized in military history.

Biography

Early life and education Jackson was born in Columbia, South Carolina. She was adopted and raised by Reverend C. W. Dunlap and his wife, Ella Fair Dunlap, when she was orphaned as a child. Because of World War II, Jackson had to leave her teaching position in the segregated southern schools. But even in Washington, "colored only" signs were still fairly common and "the racial division of labor that segregation imposed did not promise much for the young black woman from a small black college." She was one of the first African American professionals to be hired by the National Archives in Washington, D.C. Here, she specialized in western, military, social and African American topics.

Awards and honors In 1976, the University of Toledo recognized Jackson for her "lifetime of research assistance in scholarly pursuit" by awarding her an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters. Jackson was awarded the Frank E. Vandiver Award of Merit by the Houston Civil War Round Table for outstanding contributions to Civil War Scholarship.