Dr. Thelma Jackson is an activist who has worked for equity in education, women’s rights, and Black rights for decades. She served on an advisory council aimed at implementing legislation to close the achievement gap for Black students in Washington schools, led the Washington State Legislative Ethics Board, led the Commission on African American Affairs, and was President of the State School Directors’ Association. Dr. Jackson and her husband Nat live in Olympia and continue to work for equity in their communities.

This image shows Thelma Jackson as a delegate for Washington state to the International Women’s Year conference in Houston from November 18-21, 1977. Jackson was one of 28 delegates from Washington. The Washington delegates focused on a range of issues impacting women, including abortion access, the Equal Rights Amendment, gay rights, care of the elderly, racial equity, education, and employment programs. Despite some opposition from delegates, the conference adopted proposals supporting greater access to abortion, supported the Equal Rights Amendment, and supported gay rights.

Caption information source: “Nat & Thelma Jackson: You Run to Win,” Legacy Washington Office of the Secretary of State, retrieved from https://www.sos.wa.gov/_assets/legacy/jacksons-profile.pdf.
Caption information source: “State Delegation to Women’s Conference a Diverse Group,” by Karen West, Seattle Post-Intelligencer November 13, 1977, page A6.
Caption information also derived from captions written by Post-Intelligencer staff and attached to the back of the photograph.