A Guide to the Papers of Alice Jackson Stuart, 1913-2001 Stuart, Alice Jackson, Papers 12512

A Guide to the Papers of Alice Jackson Stuart, 1913-2001

A Collection in
Special Collections
The University of Virginia Library
Accession Number 12512


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Special Collections, University of Virginia Library

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© 2003 By the Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia. All rights reserved.

Processed by: Special Collections Staff

Repository
Special Collections, University of Virginia Library
Accession number
12512
Title
Papers of Alice Jackson Stuart 1913-2001
Physical Characteristics
This collection consists of ca. 19,200 items (64 Hollinger boxes, ca. 26.5 linear shelf feet), ca. 1930-2001, and some printed material from the nineteenth century.
Language
English

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

Box 64 contains student records and grades and is totally restricted with no access by researchers under the terms of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (F.E.R.P.A.).

Preferred Citation

Papers of Alice Jackson Stuart, Accession #12512, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

These papers were given to the University of Virginia Library by Judge Julian Towns Houston, Brookline, Massachusetts, on April 24, 2003.

Biographical/Historical Information

Alice Carlotta Jackson was born on June 2, 1913, above her father's pharmacy, in Richmond, Virginia, to James Edward Jackson, Sr. (1879-1957) and Clara Louise Kersey Jackson (1886-1960). During her elementary and high school years, she attended the Hartshorn Memorial College (1919-1930), which operated from 1883 until 1930, when the elementary and high school programs were eliminated and the college department merged with Virginia Union University. It was located on the site of present day Maggie L. Walker High School in Richmond, Virginia.

Jackson received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Virginia Union University in 1934 and her Master of Arts degree from Columbia University in 1939, with her thesis "Literary Criticism in John Milton's Prose Works." For a draft of her thesis see Box 22 of this collection.

In addition she attended the following workshops: Psychology at Howard University (1948); Speech for Classroom Teachers, Virginia Commonwealth University (1951); Fellow Fund for Advancement of Education, Ford Foundation (1953-1954), where she traveled, studied, and participated in productions for Mass Media in Education at Teacher's College, Columbia University and the University of Southern California ; Rutgers Workshop for High School Teachers of English (1959); Fairleigh Dickenson University - Poetry Society of America Creative Writing Workshop (1963); and a Casenovia College NEH Workshop on Resources for Teaching Literature of Black America (1969). She also received a National Endowment for the Humanities grant in 1981 for a research project. Files with information about most of these post graduate education and enrichment opportunities can be found in Series IV: Subject and Topical Files.

Alice Jackson had applied to the University of Virginia graduate school in 1935 and was the first known African-American to seek admission into a Virginia state graduate or professional school. Her application was rejected by the University of Virginia because of her race and for "other good and sufficient reasons" not spelled out in correspondence between the University and Alice Jackson (copies of this correspondence and related material can be found in Box 54). As a result of her application, the Virginia General Assembly established a tuition supplement fund for minority students who wanted to attend graduate and professional schools out of state. This legislation was worked out by the Virginia Commission on Interracial Cooperation to provide a tuition supplement that would compensate for the difference in cost for attending an out-of-state school.

The teaching experience of Alice Jackson Stuart included work at Virginia Union University (1935-1936); teaching French at what is now Norfolk State College (1936-1937); Bethune-Cookman College (1938-1942); Howard University (1944-1950); English for Nurses at the Medical College of Virginia (1951-1953); Virginia Public Schools in Richmond at Armstrong High School and Maggie L. Walker High School (1951-1959); Rutgers State University, Douglass College (1960-1963); and at Middlesex County College from 1966 until her retirement, in 1983, as professor of English.

In addition to her educational work, she also was occasionally employed part-time writing for Ebony-Jet, Afro-American Newspapers in Richmond, Virginia, Journal and Guide Weekly , and as a columnist for Virginia Today, 1951-1953. From 1964-1966, Stuart worked as an educational research specialist for the ITT - Federal Electric Company Kilmer Job Corps Center in New Jersey (Boxes 38-39). Stuart was a member of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and a charter member of Delta Sigma Theta at Virginia Union University. Material related to her long membership in the Delta Sigma Sorority is present in Boxes 12-14.

Alice Jackson Stuart was married first to Julian Towns Houston, Sr. in April 1940, and they had one son, Julian Towns Houston. Her second marriage was to Dr. James Earle Stuart on November 12, 1960. Files about the career and death of Dr. Stuart can be found in Boxes 18 and 19.

Scope and Content Information

The papers of Alice Jackson Houston Stuart (1913-2001), an educator and early Virginia civil rights figure, consist of ca. 19,200 items (64 Hollinger boxes, ca. 26.5 linear shelf feet), ca. 1930-2001, and some printed material from the nineteenth century. The collection includes correspondence, biographical information, topical files, research files, organizational and professional files, original writings by Alice Jackson Stuart and her son, Julian Houston, and papers and photographs pertaining to the career of her second husband, Doctor James Earle Stuart, and his estate.

The correspondence series consists chiefly of personal correspondence with friends and family, invitations to social events, greeting cards, and post cards. Of particular note in the series are letters pertaining to her educational opportunities during her career (Box 1), especially an early letter from Charles Houston, October 13, 1936, advising her about the amount the state of Virginia was offering to pay to enable her to attend Columbia University.

Other notable files include the correspondence of Alice Jackson with her parents, 1935-1939 (Box 5), letters pertaining to her professional career (Box 8), speaking opportunities (Box 9) and a small VIP file of correspondence (Box 9) including: Mary McLeod Bethune, Edward W. Brooke, W.E.B. DuBois (copy only), Michael S. Dukakis, Lena Horne, Robert F. Kennedy, Mrs. Ada MacLeish on behalf of her husband, Archibald MacLeish, Isabel Powell (wife of Adam Clayton Powell), Dan Quayle, Barbara Summers, Mary Church Terrell, and Harrison A. Williams, Jr.

The series on personal and family materials includes Stuart's address and telephone books; calendar and appointment books; all types of biographical and autobiographical information; membership and involvement in the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority; diplomas; news clippings about Stuart; membership cards; obituaries and funeral programs for friends (arranged chronologically) with a separate folder for Spottswood W. Robinson, III; photographs (only a few of Alice Jackson Stuart are present) and slides; plaques, chiefly about membership in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; programs to various events, arranged by type; government resolutions concerning Stuart; various travel folders; and material about Dr. James Earle Stuart.

The third series consist of notes made by Alice Jackson Stuart or completed articles, essays, drafts of her book on the baseball player Don Newcombe, high school and college class papers, her Masters thesis on John Milton, play adaptations, newspapers articles, poetry, speeches, including one at the University of Virginia Office of Afro-American Affairs Honors Banquet, and short stories. The notes are arranged by topic when apparent, and include college course notes, notes for classes she taught, notes about teaching, black history and culture, and other personal interests.

Series four is the largest series and contains subject and topical files. The largest groups of these are concerned with her long career of teaching at the Middlesex County College, Edison, New Jersey, from its beginnings until her retirement (Boxes 39-43); her membership and active roles in the National Council of Teachers of English and the associated Conference on College Composition and Communication, where Stuart served on the Executive committee, 1972-1975 (Boxes 44-47); and Dr. and Mrs. Stuart's public and community service to Plainfield, New Jersey (Boxes 48-50).

Other files reveal her interest in race relations, the arts, black history and culture, various educational issues, civil rights and civil rights organizations, the Democratic Party, membership in the First Unitarian Church of Richmond, Virginia, and Plainfield, New Jersey, social issues, including housing and urban renewal, various museums, human relations, application to the University of Virginia in 1935 (Box 54), L. Douglas Wilder (Box 56), and Virginia Union University (Box 55-56).

Another item of note in series four is the World War II diary and letters, 1943-1944, of a black serviceman, Granver Paige Thomas (1923-?), a member of Company B, 1313th Engineer Regiment, General Service, who was stationed at Fort George E. Meade, on July 24, 1943, and transferred to Camp Claiborne, Louisiana, on August 5, 1943 (see Box 54). The diary describes his basic training in great detail from the time he entered service in July until he was shipped out from Camp Claiborne in January 1944 in preparation of going to England. The letters are from Thomas to his mother, Mrs. Anna V. Cutts, while he was stationed in England in 1944.

The fifth series of educational files and research materials includes bibliographies, syllabi, and files with educational topics, such as curriculum reform, the gifted child, grading, the junior and community college, low income students, the possible impact of television and radio upon education, reading, testing, vocabulary and spelling, and writing and composition, among others.

There are also files of research material about Africa; black artists; blacks in education and medical fields; black history, literature, media, theater, musicians, singers, and other performers; the Caribbean Islands and their literature; the civil rights movement; women's studies; the Civil War, and Richmond.

Research folders on individuals include: Roland Hayes, Langston Hughes, John Keats, Alice Dunbar Nelson and Maggie Lena Walker.

Organization

Much of the printed material that came with the papers but did not relate specifically to Stuart or her professional career was separated and transferred to Rare Books for individual cataloging and handling. Five series were then created based on the type of material present. All material marked as oversize in the box listing are actually stored in oversize boxes separate from the collection. Please ask staff members for assistance in requesting these items.

These papers are arranged in five series, including:

Series I: Correspondence (Boxes 1-9)
Series II: Personal and Family Files (Boxes 9-20)
Series III: Notes and Writings by Alice Jackson Stuart (Boxes 21-30)
Series IV: Subject and Topical Files (Boxes 30-56)
Series V: Educational Files and Research Materials (Boxes 57-64)

Contents List

Series I: Correspondence
Box 9
Series II: Personal and Family Materials
Box 20
Series III: Notes and Writings by Alice Jackson Stuart
Box 30
Series IV: Subject & Topical Files
Box 56
Series V: Educational Files and Research Materials