Roberta Bowles Hodges Jackson (1920-1999) was the first Black woman professor at UNC-Chapel Hill. Born in Germantown, Jackson’s family moved to West Virginia, where she graduated from high school and Bluefield State College. She went to Ohio State University for a master’s degree in education and to New York University for a doctorate in the same field. Before joining UNC-Chapel Hill’s faculty, Jackson worked at Southern University in Louisiana. During this time, she supported programs for low-income high school students and wrote articles on the positive effect higher education could have on minority women.
Jackson joined UNC-Chapel Hill in 1970 as the first Black woman faculty member and became the first Black woman to achieve tenure at the school. Her husband, Blyden Jackson, was the first Black faculty at any predominantly white university in the area. Outside of her academic career, Jackson played an active role in the Children’s Home of NC, the 12th International Congress of Family Life, and the Day Care and Child Development Council of America Incorporated. She was awarded the Arthur S. Fleming and Patricia Nixon Citation for Service to Project FIND in 1972 and the Outstanding Contribution to Children and Families of American Award in 1977.
The Jacksons both retired in 1981, and in 1992, the school named their admissions building Jackson Hall in honor of their contributions to and mentorship of diversity in higher education.