Edna Branch Jackson (born September 18, 1944) is an American politician from Georgia. Jackson is a Democratic member of the

Georgia House of Representatives The Georgia House of Representatives is the lower house of the Georgia General Assembly (the state legislature) of the U.S. state of Georgia. There are currently 180 elected members. Republicans have had a majority in the chamber since 2005. T ...

for District 165. She was previously the Mayor of

Savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the Canopy (forest), canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to rea ...

from 2012 to 2015, the first female African-American to hold the office.

Early life and education

Edna Jackson was born in Savannah, Georgia, to parents Georgia Branch Dillard and Henry Reid. In an interview by Stephen Moody of WJCL, Jackson is quoted as beginning her community service involvement at nine years old, after meeting Wesley Wallace Law. She joined the

NAACP Youth Council The NAACP Youth Council is a branch of the NAACP in which youth are actively involved. In past years, council participants organized under the council's name to make major strides in the Civil Rights Movement. Started in 1935 by Juanita E. Jackson, ...

, with whom she participated in non-violent protests for racial equity across North Carolina, Georgia and Florida. She graduated High School in 1962 from

Alfred E. Beach High School Alfred Ely Beach High School, known as Beach High School, is a public high school in Savannah, Georgia, United States. Beach Institute In 1867, the Beach Institute was established by the American Missionary Association (A.M.A.) and the Freedme ...

. Jackson continued her involvement with the NAACP Youth Council during her college education. Jackson graduated from

Savannah State University ) , established = , closed = , type = Public historically black university , parent = University System of Georgia , academic_affiliation = Space-grant , endowment ...

, with a B.S. in Sociology in 1968, and a M.Ed. in Political Science Education in 1972.

Career

Beginning her career as a social worker, Jackson joined the Economic Opportunity Authority for Savannah-Chatham County Area, Inc. From 1971 through 2001, Edna Jackson worked for her alma mater, Savannah State University. In 1971, the president of Savannah State University, Prince Jackson, Jr., hired Edna Jackson as the director of the university’s emergency school assistant program. Edna Jackson went on to work as the director of alumni affairs and coordinator of the Elderhostel Program. She retired from her role at SSU in 2001. Jackson's career continued in the city government of Savannah. As described in her biography by The HistoryMakers, Jackson "served as alderman at large on the City Council of Savannah for three terms, and

mayor pro tempore ''Pro tempore'' (), abbreviated ''pro tem'' or ''p.t.'', is a Latin phrase which best translates to "for the time being" in English. This phrase is often used to describe a person who acts as a ''locum tenens'' (placeholder) in the absence of ...

of Savannah for two terms. In 2012, Jackson became the first African American woman to be elected as mayor of Savannah, serving for one term." Following a special election in 2021, Jackson won the State House District 165 seat. She was re-elected in 2022.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Edna African-American state legislators in Georgia (U.S. state) Democratic Party members of the Georgia House of Representatives 21st-century American legislators Living people 21st-century African-American politicians 1944 births African-American mayors in Georgia (U.S. state) African-American women mayors 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century Georgia (U.S. state) politicians