Archival Resources

Jackson, Emory O.
Letters To Anne Rutledge, 1940-1975

Emory Overton Jackson was born in Buena Vista, Georgia, on September 8, 1908. His family moved to Enon Ridge, an area of Birmingham, Alabama, in 1919, and Jackson attended Industrial High School (now Parker High School). After graduating from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1932, Jackson taught at Carver High School in Dothan, Alabama, and at Westfield in Jefferson County. He served in World War II, and became the managing editor of the Birmingham World, Alabama's largest and oldest African-American newspaper, in 1941. He remained editor for the rest of his life.

Jackson promoted voter registration, equal job opportunities and education for African Americans, and served on many boards and agencies, including Birmingham's Industrial Development Board. He was one of the founders of the Alabama Conference of NAACP Branches, and he served on the board of directors for the Fourth Avenue YMCA and the Jefferson County Committee for Economic Opportunity. Jackson died in Birmingham on September 10, 1975.

Anne Rutledge was a student of Jackson's at Westfield High School. They remained friends and corresponded with each other for 35 years. Rutledge earned degrees from Alabama State University, Tuskegee, and Alabama A&M and made her career as a teacher, including 19 years as a history and political science professor at A&M. She retired in 1986 and lives in Huntsville, Alabama. Rutledge has published several books of poetry including Double the Pleasure in 1988 and is working on a biography of Emory Jackson.

These letters from Jackson to his personal friend Anne Rutledge address a variety of issues including Jackson's career and involvement in the Civil Rights Movement and Rutledge's career as an artist and a teacher. The collection also includes a poem by Jackson called "I am the Negro Press" and a newspaper clipping on Rutledge.

File level guide available in the Archives Department.

African Americans -- Alabama.
Birmingham World.
Civil rights workers -- Alabama -- Birmingham.
Jackson, Emory O., 1908 -1975
Journalists -- Alabama -- Birmingham.
Newspaper editors -- Alabama -- Birmingham.
Poets -- Alabama.
Rutledge, Anne G.

Collection Number: 1460

Size: 1/3 linear feet (1 box)

Source/Provenance: Gift of Anne Rutledge.

Restrictions: Standard preservation and copyright restrictions.

RA/8-20-01