Oral history with George Jackson, Sr.; 2009

Oral history.; Interview conducted on April 7, 2009 with George Jackson Sr. George Jackson, Sr. is from Jackson, Mississippi. He became a singer at a young age and sang to pay his way through college and a master's degree in education from Jackson College (now Jackson State University). Through his marriage, he became connected to Leake County and the Harmony community. Harmony was a historic black community that had created and supported its own school. In 1961, the county closed down Harmony High School to bus the students to Warner Grove High School across town. The community protested and insisted if their school was going to be closed, then the students would go to the local white school, Carthage High School. The Leake County chapter of the NAACP was organized in the Jackson family residence. The NAACP sued for integration. The integration of Carthage High School is the first court-mandated school integration in the state of Mississippi. The Harmony community also served as a base for members of CORE during the voter registration movement in the summer of 1964. George Jackson spent his later years working in the Jackson Public School system. He served for years running a GED program designed to provide students with trade skills as well as prepare them for higher education. Recently George Jackson Sr. has been working at Lanier High School running the Algebra Project. This project is a new approach to teaching algebra to high school students based on real life applications.

Oral history.; Interview conducted on April 7, 2009 with George Jackson Sr. George Jackson, Sr. is from Jackson, Mississippi. He became a singer at a young age and sang to pay his way through college and a master's degree in education from Jackson College (now Jackson State University). Through his marriage, he became connected to Leake County and the Harmony community. Harmony was a historic black community that had created and supported its own school. In 1961, the county closed down Harmony High School to bus the students to Warner Grove High School across town. The community protested and insisted if their school was going to be closed, then the students would go to the local white school, Carthage High School. The Leake County chapter of the NAACP was organized in the Jackson family residence. The NAACP sued for integration. The integration of Carthage High School is the first court-mandated school integration in the state of Mississippi. The Harmony community also served as a base for members of CORE during the voter registration movement in the summer of 1964. George Jackson spent his later years working in the Jackson Public School system. He served for years running a GED program designed to provide students with trade skills as well as prepare them for higher education. Recently George Jackson Sr. has been working at Lanier High School running the Algebra Project. This project is a new approach to teaching algebra to high school students based on real life applications.

Oral history.; Interview conducted on April 7, 2009 with George Jackson Sr. George Jackson, Sr. is from Jackson, Mississippi. He became a singer at a young age and sang to pay his way through college and a master's degree in education from Jackson College (now Jackson State University). Through his marriage, he became connected to Leake County and the Harmony community. Harmony was a historic black community that had created and supported its own school. In 1961, the county closed down Harmony High School to bus the students to Warner Grove High School across town. The community protested and insisted if their school was going to be closed, then the students would go to the local white school, Carthage High School. The Leake County chapter of the NAACP was organized in the Jackson family residence. The NAACP sued for integration. The integration of Carthage High School is the first court-mandated school integration in the state of Mississippi. The Harmony community also served as a base for members of CORE during the voter registration movement in the summer of 1964. George Jackson spent his later years working in the Jackson Public School system. He served for years running a GED program designed to provide students with trade skills as well as prepare them for higher education. Recently George Jackson Sr. has been working at Lanier High School running the Algebra Project. This project is a new approach to teaching algebra to high school students based on real life applications.