Edna Burke Jackson

Edna Burke Jackson was born in 1911 in Washington, D.C. The oldest of four children, She studied Romance languages, particularly French, and social studies at Howard University on a four-year scholarship that she won by placing second in an Elks Oratorical Contest. In addition to teaching, Jackson was a writer, first publishing a weekly column in a prominent Black newspaper, the Oklahoma Eagle, while living in Tulsa in the 1930s. From 1959 to 1970, she wrote book reviews for the Journal of Negro History. She was also deeply involved in volunteer work with the African Methodist Episcopal Church, among other organizations. She died in 2004 at age 93. == High school namesake ==

By 2020, the formerly segregated Wilson High School had become the District's most diverse public high school. Among the potential new names were August Wilson, Hilda Mason, Marion Barry, Northwest, Vincent E. Reed, and William Syphax. But advocates began coalescing around Edna B. Jackson, which had been suggested various times in the past, in honor of her role as a trailblazing Black educator at the school. The school's student paper endorsed this choice, arguing, "As a Black woman, Jackson’s intersectional identity is the antithesis of President Wilson's. Her legacy is uniquely intertwined with our school's past endeavors for equality." In December, the council voted to rename it Jackson-Reed High School to honor both Jackson and Vincent E. Reed, the school's first Black principal. The name change went into effect on March 15, 2022, making Jackson the first female namesake of a D.C. public high school. == References ==