Anne A. Jackson
Motivated by a desire to experience life and have her voice heard, Anne Jackson participated in community activism ranging from the March on Washington to Holocaust education. Jackson was born to a family of Russian immigrants and pursued her education at Hyannis Teacher's College. She took many courses at Columbia University and at Harvard, where famous author James Michener, who became her mentor, invited her to work in a Harvard summer workshop and library. Jackson taught elementary school in Chelsea for many years, introducing innovative educational programs. In addition to her work as a teacher, Jackson immersed herself in local politics and community activism for causes such as civil rights and Holocaust education. Some of her activities have included attending the March on Washington in 1963, serving on the Brookline Town Meeting, and involvement with Facing History and Ourselves. Anne Jackson was honored at the 2000 Women Who Dared event in Boston.
Jackson discusses her upbringing in which she had very little religious training. She reflects on the intermingled community of Russian Jews who had moved to the United States and the rest of her family including her brother Mendel Fischer, who was the head of the Jewish National Fund of America. Jackson, an alumna of Columbia University’s Teachers College, discusses her time as an educator at a Chelsea elementary school and her work with American novelist, James Michener. She goes on to talk about her experiences in the Civil Rights Movement including her and her family’s parts in the March on Washington in 1963. Jackson’s activism and Jewishness are inherently linked, and she advocates for the inclusion of Holocaust education in all schools even in her later years. She discusses her work with low- income students in Chelsea and what they have gone on to achieve, reflecting on the letters she has received from them. She reflects on her experience as a woman in her field and in museum spaces along with her time serving on the Brookline Town Meeting. Finally, she reflects on her biggest influences and mentors.
