Alfred Thomas Jackson
normal schools" were expected to establish "norms" of teaching standards.[6]
The Sumner-Robertson Normal School had about 300 students in its 1905–1906 session with graduates in the teachers' group and the scientific group.Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville on May 13, 1928.[4]
Early life
Jackson was born in
Peabody College in Nashville.[4]
His career as a teacher started with a job in Alamo, Tennessee, where he helped organize a high school.[2] He taught Greek and Latin for a year in Ripley, Tennessee. He was drawn to Sumner County, Tennessee, the home of his future wife, Idella Payne. He wanted to build a school there and found a site in White House, Tennessee, located at the border of Sumner and Robertson Counties. With the help of seven investors and with neighbors helping, Jackson built a school, cutting trees himself and supervising all phases of the project.[4] The school opened in 1900. He married Idella Payne in 1899, they had two children, Lucy and Thomas, in rapid succession. Jackson's wife died in 1902, leaving him with the two small children. In 1903, Jackson fell in love with Idella's first cousin, Myra Victoria Barry, who was then the valedictorian of the graduating class of Jackson's Sumner-Robertson Normal College. After the graduation ceremonies, Jackson said, "I hope everyone will remain for a little surprise".[11] The minister who had delivered the baccalaureate sermon then had Myra Barry, age 22, come back on the stage for a wedding with 39 year-old headmaster A.T.Jackson.[11] They had nine children between 1904 and 1920. Two children (twins) died shortly after birth; the others were Madeline, Mary Ellen, Rubye, George Woodrow, Alfred Edison, Lora and Lenna Lillian. It was his wish that all his children be college graduates.[4]
After his school was purchased by the governments of Sumner and Robertson Counties in 1920, he continued teaching or serving as principal at high schools in Stewart, Cheatham and Fayette counties and, jointly with his wife, taught summer schools at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee. After his death in 1928, Myra Jackson continued teaching at Middleton High School in Middleton, Tennessee.[12]
References
- ^ a b "Charters Granted". The Nashville American. May 29, 1901. p. 10. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
- ^ a b c Hale, Will T.; Merritt, Dixon L. (1913). A History of Tennessee and Tennesseans: The Leaders and Representative Men in Commerce, Industry and Modern Activities (Volume 4 ed.). Chicago and New York: Lewis Publishing Company. pp. 1948–1949. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
- ^ "Study Club Learns about White House". Robertson County Times (Springfield, Tennessee). May 2, 2012. p. B–1. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f "A.T. Jackson, 64, Dies in Hospital". Vol. 22, no. 3. The Nashville Tennessean. May 14, 1928. p. 8. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
- ^ Clark, Suma M. "A Short History of MTSU". mtsu.edu. Middle Tennessee State University. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
- ^ Cook, Tanner (October 5, 2019). "East Tennessee Normal School: an early history of ETSU". johnsoncitypress.com. Johnson City Press (Tennessee). Retrieved April 13, 2020.
- ^ "Closing Exercises of a Popular School". Vol. 31, no. 42. Nashville Banner. May 28, 1906. p. 12. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
- ^ Fesmire, W.J. (October 27, 1946). "The White House". Nashville Tennessean Magazine. The Nashville Tennessean. p. 28. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
- ^ "O.H. Searcy Is New Judge". Vol. 32, no. 8. The Record-Democrat (Oklahoma). October 4, 1923. p. 1. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
- ^ a b Jones, Frank Emerson (2019). A History of the families of Frank and Audrey Jones (Third ed.). Nashville. p. 10.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ "From Me To You". The Knoxville Journal. August 19, 1960. p. 18. Retrieved April 14, 2020.