Jackson Public Schools will hold a dedication program for the naming of
three new schools at 11:30 a.m., Friday, January 16, in the Supreme Court
Chambers on the second floor of the New Capitol. A reception will follow
on the second floor Rotunda of the New Capitol. The public is invited to
attend this event.
The names were approved during the Board of Trustees meeting on October
21, 2008. Approximately 50 suggestions of names were made to the Board
following an announcement in September that the Board was seeking
suggestions from the public. The three new schools – an elementary and a
middle school in south Jackson and a middle school in north Jackson —
will be built with funds from the November 2006 school bond referendum.
The schools are being named for three Mississippi Civil Rights pioneers-
Gladys Noel Bates, a former Mississippi educator now living in Denver,
Colorado; Thomas W. Cardozo, a state superintendent of education who died
in 1881; and Henry J. Kirksey, a state legislator and activist who died in
2005. Ground breaking for the three schools is expected to take place
early this year.
Bates will make the trip to Mississippi with family members and attend the
dedication ceremony. Family and friends of Kirksey will attend the
dedication and be recognized. Paul Robeson Jr., the great-great nephew of
Cardozo, will submit a message of appreciation for the dedication. Bates
and her family members and the Kirksey family also will be honored during
a number of Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday activities January 17-19 in
Jackson.
Organizations and community groups that are assisting Jackson Public
Schools with the dedication program include the Hinds County Legislative
Black Caucus, Jackson Branch of NAACP, Magnolia Bar Association, Jackson
Chapter of The Links Incorporated, Jackson (MS) Alumnae of Delta Sigma
Theta Sorority, Beta Delta Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority,
Rho Lambda Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Alpha Epsilon
Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha, Jackson Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha
Psi, the Beta Alpha Chapter of Omega Psi Phi, Metro-Jackson Alcorn Alumni
Chapter, Tougaloo College Alumni, the Mississippi Association of
Educators, Smith-Robertson Museum, and the City of Jackson.
Gladys Noel Bates Elementary School (South Jackson Elementary School)
Gladys Noel Bates, born in 1920 in McComb, Mississippi, is an
African-American civil rights pioneer and educator who filed a lawsuit,
Gladys Noel Bates vs. the State of Mississippi, in 1948 charging salary
discrimination against African American teachers and principals.
The “Gladys Noel Bates Teacher-Equalization Pay Suit” was the first civil
rights suit filed in the history of the State of Mississippi. This
landmark lawsuit was the forerunner for school desegregation cases of the
1950’s.
Bates currently resides in Denver, Colorado, where she has received
numerous awards for her achievements as an educator and a community
leader. She holds degrees from Tougaloo College and West Virginia
University and has served on the Tougaloo College Board of Trustees and as
president of the Tougaloo College National Alumni Association. She also
has done further study at the University of Colorado and the University of
Denver.
Thomas W. Cardozo Middle School (South Jackson Middle School)
Thomas W. Cardozo was the first African American to serve as
superintendent of education for the state of Mississippi.
A native of Charleston, South Carolina, Cardozo attended school in
Charleston and continued his education in New York City where he opened a
school for African American children. After joining the American
Missionary Association, he returned to Charleston where he supervised
schools run by the association. In 1871 he moved to Vicksburg,
Mississippi, where he taught school and joined the local Republican Party.
In 1872, he was elected to the office of clerk of the county court.
In 1873 during the Reconstruction era in Mississippi following the Civil
War, he ran for state superintendent of education and was elected to the
position. As state superintendent, he was interested in the education of
all children even though the public schools were segregated. He supported
the idea of local control of schools and made regular field trips to those
schools. The statewide adoption of uniform textbooks was a reform that he
supported.
After serving as state superintendent, he moved to Massachusetts where he
worked for the U.S. Postal Service. He died in 1881.
Henry J. Kirksey Middle School (North Jackson Middle School)
Henry J. Kirksey, born in Lee County, Mississippi, in 1915, was an
outspoken civil rights activist. He was one of the first African
Americans elected to the Mississippi Senate after the Reconstruction era
in Mississippi’s history.
He was the primary plaintiff to bring Mississippi in compliance with the
1965 Voting Rights Act. The election of more than 600 African Americans to
public office in the state can be credited in part to Kirksey’s service as
a plaintiff, expert witness and community organizer. After filing a
lawsuit, the City of Jackson changed its form of government to the system
now in operation.
In 1965, Kirksey, a planning consultant, challenged the countywide
election of state legislators. His lawsuit led to the adoption of
single-member legislative districts in 1979. A retired Tougaloo College
professor, Kirksey died at the age of 90 on December 9, 2005.
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