Shelby M. Jackson

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Shelby M. Jackson (November 20, 1903-- January 1972) was a Democratic superintendent of public education in Louisiana who served from 1948-1964. In the early 1960s, he tried in vain to block federally-authorized school desegregation. Jackson was posthumously honored in 1994, by the naming of the "Shelby M. Jackson Memorial Campus" of Louisiana Technical College in Ferriday in his native Concordia Parish.

A former educator, Jackson was elected four times as Louisiana's school superintendent. In his last reelection in April 1960, he overwhelmed the first Republican ever to seek the Louisiana superintendency, Centenary College professor Donald Emerich. Jackson polled 86.7 percent of the two-party vote, to Emerich's 13.3 percent. Jackson became well-known politically through his tenure as superintendent. For sixteen years, nearly every child's report card in the state bore Jackson's stenciled signature.

1 Jackson runs for governor, 1963
2 Dodd's dirty trick on Jackson
3 Shelby M. Jackson Campus
4 References

[edit] Jackson runs for governor, 1963

see main article: Louisiana gubernatorial election, 1963-64

Continuing his strong segregationist position, Jackson had on November 13, 1960, declared a school holiday in an attempt to thwart court-ordered school desegregation in New Orleans, where the first race mixing was implemented in Louisiana schools.

He entered the 1963 Democratic gubernatorial primary. He campaigned on an intraparty "ticket" with New Orleans attorney Harry R. Cabral (1926-1998), who was seeking the lieutenant governor's position.

Jackson finished fifth with 103,945 votes (11.5 percent).

Had he run for a fifth term as superintendent and not for governor, it has been speculated that a clear majority of his votes would have otherwise gone to the fourth-place candidate, former Governor Robert F. Kennon. Therefore, with more than half of Jackson's votes added to his total, Kennon, not fellow Democrat John Julian McKeithen, would have entered the party runoff primary with the Number 1 candidate, former New Orleans Mayor deLesseps Story Morrison, Sr. (1912-1964).

One may indeed argue that Jackson had little chance of being governor, but he inadvertently denied Kennon the likelihood of a second nonconsecutive term. Jackson endorsed the successful McKeithen in the runoff with Morrison. Cabral finished far behind in the lieutenant governor's race as well, with victory going to the conservative incumbent, Clarence C. "Taddy" Aycock (1915-1987) of Franklin in St. Mary Parish.

[edit] Dodd's dirty trick on Jackson

Jackson was succeeded as superintendent by his fellow Democrat, William J. "Bill" Dodd, who served from 1964-1972. Dodd claimed in his memoirs Peapatch Politics that he and his friends encouraged Jackson to run for governor to clear the way for Dodd to seek the superintendency. Dodd said that many of his own backers sent personal letters to Jackson with $1 bills as campaign contributions to demonstrate "grass-roots" support for the segregationist candidate. And Jackson fell for Dodd's bait -- entering a gubernatorial race that he could not win and surrendering his superintendency, which he may well have retained had he sought a fifth term. It was a "dirty trick" to which Dodd confesses in his memoirs.

Dodd said that Jackson had tried to capitalize on the desegregation crisis: "Shelby Jackson was too dumb and schoolteacherish to use his great opportunities effectively. Too, my being on the [state education] board and gigging him quietly didn't help his cause much."

[edit] Shelby M. Jackson Campus

Jackson's widow, Phoebe S. Jackson (September 3, 1904 -- November 5, 2005), left an endowment for the renamed Shelby M. Jackson Campus in 1994 and then expanded the financial support in 1997. The Jacksons were both born and reared in the Monterey area of Concordia Parish near Ferriday and became well-known educators. Mrs. Jackson was living in Monterey at the time of her death. The endowment was placed in an irrevocable trust in Concordia Bank & Trust Co. The account generates $20,000 yearly, which is awarded through an application process to deserving students to defray the expense of technical school. The endowment is the only one of its kind in the Louisiana technical school system.

The Jackson Campus was originally known as the "Concordia Parish Trade School" under Act 140 of the 1950 regular session of the Louisiana legislature. Construction was completed in 1952, at a site behind Ferriday High School, and classes began thereafter under the direction of Dean Johnnie W. Beasley. Training was offered in cabinetmaking, farm mechanics, and commerce. These programs changed through the years as the economy dictated.

In 1973, legislative Acts 208 and 209 appropriated funds to expand the trade school system. The acts included funding to build a new school at Ferriday and to include additional training programs. Prior to construction of the new facility, Beasley retired and was succeeded in 1975 by Johnny G. Robertson. Robertson received permission to purchase land and relocate the school at a more spacious and accessible location on Highway 65 North in Ferriday.

In 1981, the school name was changed to Concordia Vocational-Technical School. Johnny Robertson retired in 1984 and was succeeded by Ray King. In 1990, the state board changed all state vocational-technical schools to "technical institutes." The school was hence the "Concordia Technical Institute" from 1990 until July 1, 1994, when it was renamed in honor of Jackson. This action was intended to promote a school image less identifiable with Concordia Parish alone, but to attract students from nearby Catahoula and Tensas parishes and to honor Jackson's vocational-educational contributions.

Mignonne Ater, a Monterey native and the health services department head, was named the new dean of the Jackson Campus in 2004, when Ray King retired. She is the fourth person to be the dean of the campus and the first woman in the position. The mission of the Jackson Campus is to provide qualified instructional curricula to enhance the personal and job skills of the students. The campus offers technical training in the kinds of jobs available in the community, the state, or the region. The institution also aims to promote lifelong learning.