ESTHER AT 101: “My life has been devoted to supporting civil rights.”

Esther Cooper Jackson is a petit powerhouse. Her one-bedroom in the nursing home is small, and still she barely takes up any space. She sits in a wheelchair to the side of her bed, slightly hidden until I step fully in the room.

But as soon as she speaks, Esther completely fills the space. Her eyes sparkle. Her easy laugh is melodious. Her memory is impeccable. Her stories are mesmerizing.

Esther is 101 years old. She has devoted her entire life to fight for the civil rights of African Americans and others.

Before I’ve had a chance to fully explain the purpose of my visit, Esther is ready to jump in. Her nephew has linked us together and that’s all the introduction that is needed.

Esther is well prepared for our conversation. Her bed is filled with stacks of papers and books, many of which she will refer to as we begin our discussion. Among her treasures are papers that she has written and books that reference her lifelong work. Her walls are adorned with awards she has been given in recognition for her many accomplishments.

The first book Esther shows me has a title that grabs my attention: James and Esther Cooper Jackson: Love and Courage in the Black Freedom Movement. This is a comprehensive biography of Esther and her late husband James (Jack) that was written by Sara Rzeszutek for her doctoral thesis.

When I discover that it took the Ms. Rzeszutek nearly 20 years to complete this endeavor, I wonder what can I possibly garner in a two-hour conversation. Reminding myself that I’m not intending to do an entire history, I sit back and enjoy this rare opportunity to listen to a woman who courageously challenged the laws and practices in one of America’s most despicable periods.

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FROM SEGREGATED SCHOOLS TO OBERLIN COLLEGE

Esther Cooper, born in 1917 in Arlington, Virginia, was brought up to believe that it was unacceptable to sit idly amidst the widespread racial inequities. Her father was an officer in the army. Her mother served as president of the local NAACP and was a leading advocate for integrated public schools.

Even as a young girl, Esther was aware of her life’s mission.

“I knew even as a young girl that I wanted to help right the pervasive racial injustices.”

Because the segregated public schools in their Virginia neighborhood were so under-resourced, Esther and her sisters spent weekdays at their aunt and uncle’s house in Washington D. C. The schools there were also segregated, but the sisters were fortunate to attend Dunbar High School. This was a highly – regarded public school with a stellar faculty comprised largely of college-educated, black women.

Following high school graduation, each of the sisters went on to college. There was never any question that the Cooper girls would fulfill their parents’ expectations to continue their education.

“Our mother and father told us that we needed the education so that we could take care of ourselves. Their message was that you never know what’s going to happen in life.”

Esther went to Oberlin College. She was one of two black females in her 1938 graduating class. It was the first time that she went to school with white girls. Several became lifelong friends.

A CHAMPION FOR BLACK DOMESTIC WORKERS

For graduate school, Esther went to Fisk University a Historically Black College and University located in Nashville, TN. In 1940, she earned a Master’s degree in sociology.

Her experience at Fisk was life changing. She lived in a settlement house where she noted the harsh, relentless working conditions of the black domestic workers. They were responsible for cleaning and cooking for the boarders. Their workday never seemed to end. Most walked the many miles that were between their homes and work.

Esther focused her graduate research on the plight of these women. Her lengthy thesis, which her mother carefully typed, was entitled Domestic Workers in Relation to Trade Unionism.

Esther was one of the first sociologists to look closely at the inequities and deceptive practices forced upon these women. Esther went on to champion the challenges of black domestic workers for the next 20 years.

In 2014, Barnard College held a three-day conference on Domestic Workers Past, Present and Future. One award was presented and Esther was the recipient. She was acknowledged for her “pioneering research and enduring commitment to radical activism” with domestic workers.

FINDING A LIFE PARTNER DEDICATED TO SOCIAL JUSTICE

Upon earning her Master’s degree, Esther was invited to continue her research as a doctoral candidate at the University of Chicago. She declined the opportunity. She chose instead to head to Birmingham Alabama. Planning to just stay for one summer, Esther worked for seven years as a prominent leader of the Southern Negro Youth Congress (SNYC). She largely focused on a vigorous campaign to register black voters. SNYC later became the foundation for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).

Esther met her future husband James (Jack) Jackson during her first summer with SYNC. Jack, a graduate of Virginia Union College and Howard University, had been working as a social justice activist for years. When Esther met him, he had recently assisted women tobacco workers in Virginia to stage a strike that successfully resulted in an eight-hour workday and a pay increase.

The couple married in 1942. Throughout their 65 years together, until Jack’s death in 2007, they supported one another’s tireless efforts to eradicate the country’s intractable racism.

“My husband and I were among the lucky ones. We were able to go through these terrible times together.”

At the start of World War II , Jack enlisted in the army.

“He was stationed in Burma for the duration of the war. It was a totally segregated situation. Most of the servicemen were black while most of the officers were white Southerners. It was like living on a different planet.”

 Throughout the war, Esther and Jack wrote to one another daily. She saved every letter she received, while Jack held on to all that survived the Burmese monsoons. Their correspondence is now housed at New York University.

“FREEDOMWAYS” – SHOWCASING BLACK ARTISTS, WRITERS AND THINKERS

Like many of their peers, Esther and Jack joined the Communist Party. The goals of the early Communist blueprint included racial and social justice, objectives that were unattainable in America.

In the early 60s, Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois and his wife Shirley Graham Du Bois began exploring the possibilities of developing a publication that would showcase the works of the leading authors and artists in the black community.

They assembled a planning group to draft the blueprint. Their efforts resulted in Freedomways: A Quarterly Review of the Freedom Movement. Throughout the lifespan of this publication – 1961 through 1985 – Esther served as its editor.  

James Baldwin, Lorraine Hansberry, Gwendolyn Brooks, Langston Hughes, and Nikki Giovanni were among the distinguished authors and poets whose works were featured in the publication. Leading black visual artists of the day, like Charles White and Elizabeth Catlett were also engaged in the endeavor.

“These artists created beautiful covers and artwork for the magazine. We didn’t have much money to pay for their services so we put together little packages for them.”

Esther laughs as she recalls how they compensated their contributors on a shoestring budget.

“They each got five free copies of the magazine.”

Given the limited financial resources, Esther still finds it remarkable that they were able to publish Freedomways for nearly 25 years. The small, dedicated staff managed a grueling workload and a never-ending quest for operational funds.

When Esther and her colleagues ran out of energy and finances, the quarterly folded.

“There were young journalists who were interested in keeping it going until they realized what was involved. In addition to managing every aspect of the production process, they needed to secure the funds to keep it afloat.”

The importance of Freedomways cannot be over-stated. This was an era when opportunities to showcase the contributions of the black artistic and political community were severely limited.

“We couldn’t get the daily newspapers to pick up on any of the news [taking place in our neighborhoods]. We relied solely on black-owned papers like the Baltimore Afro-American, the Philadelphia Tribune, the Chicago Defender, and the Oklahoma Black Dispatch.”

 In addition to managing Freedomways, Esther was among the talented journalists who covered the important stories that filled the pages of the black press.

THE MCCARTHY ERA

In 1940, Congress passed the Smith Act that made it illegal to advocate for the overthrow of the US government, or to organize for or belong to any group devoted to that objective.

During the McCarthy era, the FBI was fully consumed with identifying those who they believed were violating the law. Jack was on their radar screen. The search was so pervasive that Jack went underground for five years. Even Esther was not privy to his whereabouts during this extended period.

Esther cites this as a very difficult time in their lives. While she did have extensive support of family and friends, she was on her own to raise their two young daughters while continuing her own work. The FBI was ubiquitous. They would position themselves outside the Jackson’s door in Brooklyn, NY, and frequently barge in to find out if Jack had resurfaced.

Prior to this time, Esther had referred to herself as Esther Cooper. This was unusual: most of her peers had changed to their husbands’ last name.

“I wanted to be known for myself.”

As Jack was being pursued, however, Esther wanted to keep his plight in the public realm. She wrote a pamphlet, This is My Husband, to emphasize Jack’s humanity, his patriotism, and his wartime service. She felt that this was the right time to begin to use her married name. From that point forward, she was known as Esther Cooper Jackson.

Esther can still feel the tension and angst invoked during these years.

“The McCarthy period was worse than working in the South.”

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ESTHER AT 101: THE STORY CONTINUES

Through the course of our conversation, Esther shared stories about some of the people whose path she has crossed during her lifetime, including Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois, Paul Robeson, James Baldwin, Dr. Martin Luther King, Michael Schwerner, and Dr. Henry Louis Gates. I have included these in a second post, Esther at 101: The Story Continues, which I will circulate shortly.

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