Blyden Jackson

Life and Orange County connections

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 8 dated events in the chronology →

1. about 1946 Commerce dean Dudley D. Carroll builds a small brick house on Laurel Hill Road for an in-law The one-story side-gabled house has a traditional form with a large transom and sidelights at the door. English professor Blyden Jackson later owned it. People: Blyden JacksonSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District Boundary Increase and Additional Documentation, National Register nomination (OR1748), p. 17
2. 1969 Blyden Jackson joins UNC's English department and becomes its first tenured Black professor Blyden Jackson joined the UNC-Chapel Hill English department in 1969 and became the university's first tenured Black faculty member. He established the study of African American literature at Carolina and later served as assistant dean of the Graduate School, working to recruit Black faculty and students. People: Louis D. Rubin Jr.Search the index · Carolina Story: Blyden (1910-2000) and Roberta Jackson (1920-1999) and Jackson Hall
3. 1970 Roberta Jackson joins UNC's School of Education as its first Black tenure-track faculty member Roberta Jackson joined the UNC School of Education in 1970, a year after her husband Blyden Jackson joined the English department, as the school's first Black tenure-track faculty member. She earned tenure in 1974 and became the first tenured Black woman in the university's Division of Academic Affairs. People: Blyden JacksonSearch the index · UNC-Chapel Hill: New residence hall to honor Blyden and Roberta Jackson
4. 1974 Blyden Jackson and Louis D. Rubin Jr. publish Black Poetry in America English professors Blyden Jackson and Louis D. Rubin Jr. published Black Poetry in America, two critical essays of 98 pages meant to open Black poetry to teachers and general readers. People: Louis D. Rubin Jr.Search the index · Black Ink (Black Student Movement, UNC), October 1974, p. 3
5. early April 1981 A conference on Black scholarship honors Blyden Jackson, UNC's first Black full professor A campus conference on Black scholars and scholarship closed with a banquet for English professor Blyden Jackson, the first Black faculty member to reach full professor at UNC, who was retiring June 30. Author Mary Helen Washington of the University of Massachusetts spoke at the conference; Chancellor Fordham praised Jackson.Search the index · Black Ink (Black Student Movement, UNC), April 21, 1981, p. 5
6. 1992 UNC renames its admissions building Jackson Hall for Blyden and Roberta Jackson The university renamed the former Navy Hall and Monogram Club building on Country Club Road, home of the admissions office since 1972, as Blyden and Roberta Jackson Hall. The Jacksons had retired from teaching in 1981. People: Roberta Bowles Hodges JacksonSearch the index · Carolina Story: Blyden (1910-2000) and Roberta Jackson (1920-1999) and Jackson Hall
7. July 8, 1999 Reviewers turn down the Blyden and Roberta Jackson House as too recent Staff recommended against the Chapel Hill house, built about 1960, because the case for it rested on people still living and it did not meet the National Register test for properties less than fifty years old. The committee followed staff on July 8, 1999. People: Roberta Bowles Hodges JacksonSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: National Register Advisory Committee agendas, minutes and approved lists, p. 828
8. September 8, 2026 UNC says a new residence hall will be named Jackson Hall for Blyden and Roberta Jackson UNC-Chapel Hill announced that one of two new residence halls, to be built on the site of the former Jackson Hall that housed undergraduate admissions, will be named Jackson Hall for Blyden and Roberta Jackson. The two halls will add about 730 beds. People: Blyden JacksonSearch the index · UNC-Chapel Hill: New residence hall to honor Blyden and Roberta Jackson