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126 versities outside of Mississippi.” In fact, Jackson attended Indiana University, earning a master’s degree, for which the state of Mississippi paid most of the cost. Additionally, they paid for several trips home during the summer for Jackson to visit her family. Working with Mr. Watson Jackson also worked in Navosota, Texas, close to College Station, near Hempstead and Prairie View. Leonidas Watson, working at that time as county agricultural agent in Navasota, later became dean of the evening school at St. Philip’s and when Jackson returned to Texas, Watson was at St. Philip’s, though she was not aware that he was there before she came. In June , when Jackson came to San Antonio looking for a job, she applied at both St. Philip’s and at SAC. Watson and Armond Hathaway, department chairman of the business department at St. Philip’s, convinced Jackson that with all her experience, she was needed most at St. Philip’s. SAC was interested in hiring her because she knew machine shorthand, but by stepping down as head and returning to the classroom, Hathaway made sure that she became head of the business department at St. Philip’s. When Jackson was hired at St. Philip’s, her rank changed from holding the title of full professor in a fouryear institution to assistant professor in a two-year college . She again worked her way up to full professor and then, for several years, became Dr. Murphy’s assistant, where she was placed in charge of testing personnel to be Dr. Gloria Jackson, President, 1982–1984 Gloria Jackson, who became interim president of St. Philip ’s College in December , held the interim position for two months before becoming president in March . She brought to the position twenty-nine years of experience in the field of education that included serving as chair of the business department at Alcorn A&M College and achieving the title of full professor. As Jackson explained, “I was qualified to be president.” When Dr. Murphy retired and the position of president became open, Jackson applied. She had attended Prairie View A&M College and earned a bachelor’s degree in home economics with additional hours in elementary education . Following graduation, she worked at Bastrop County with the title of Negro Home Demonstration Agent. “I believe that I was about the last one in Bastrop,” she said. While Jackson was at Bastrop, Dr. Evans at Prairie View recommended her husband to be manager of the college laundry at Alcorn and to teach laundry and dry cleaning as well. Confident that she could find a job, Jackson moved to Alcorn to be with her husband and she found employment first in the registrar’s office, next in the business office, and later as an administrative assistant. Wanting to attend graduate school in business, Jackson enrolled at Alcorn to prepare for her master’s. “It was a turbulent time in the state of Mississippi, and anything you wanted to do and could go out of Mississippi to do, the state helped you with out-of-state aid. The state of Mississippi helped a lot of black people in Mississippi attend some of the top uni-  A Tumultuous, Progressive Time: The 1980s The 1980s can only be described as politically chaotic, for within the district and within the city of San Antonio,there was great unrest.In fact,the struggle that took place on the board of the ACCD mirrored the political struggle that was taking place in the government of the city. Despite the goings-on in the city and even at the college itself, faculty and staff maintained calmness in the classrooms. A Tumultuous, Progressive Time: The 1980s • 127 Jackson, she was told that “It came to the point where the choice was vote to remove Jackson at St. Philip’s and get your choice of president at Palo Alto.” And, said Jackson, “when it came to a vote, that’s what happened.” Jackson, who began at St. Philip’s in the business department in , progressed from instructor to department chair and then in  became president of the college . In January , Jackson went to the district and worked on special projects for Dr. McClenney as his special assistant. She also worked on the development of Palo Alto College and wrote the policy manual, What’s What. In fact, she said, “He just turned me loose on that and other jobs. But, you know, sitting over there in the district, it was quiet, you’d go...

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