Person:Christine Jackson (5)

Clarksburg Exponent Telegram Obituaries for Thursday, Sept. 8, 2005 Christine Hall Jackson White JANE LEW -- Christine Hall Jackson White, 95, of Jane Lew died Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2005, at her home. She was born Oct. 22, 1910, the daughter of the late William A. "Bark" and Sarah Blanche Hall Jackson. She was married to James Carson White June 9, 1935, who died Dec. 10, 1958. She is survived by one son, William Carson White of Jane Lew, three grandchildren, Maria Christine White Gatian, William "Will" Carson White II, and Clifford Scott White, all of Jane Lew; three great-grandchildren, Katelyn Suzanne Gatian, Natalie Christine Gatian, Carson Jackson White, all of Jane Lew. She was preceded in death by two brothers and one sister, James Addison Jackson, Straley Clifford Jackson and Esther Anne Irene Jackson Brooks. Mrs. White was a graduate of Jane Lew High School in the Class of 1927 at the age of 16, and graduated from West Virginia Wesleyan College in 1931. She taught at Jane Lew High School, teaching history and math. She was a past worthy matron of Good Hope Chapter 109 The Order of Eastern Star, where she was a member for 68 years, was a member of the First United Methodist Church, a member of the United Methodist Women for 71 years, a member of the board of trustees for over 50 years, had taught in the Sunday School for over 50 years and was the oldest member of the church. She was a farmer and a partner in Jane Lew Storage and on the North Central Regional Library Board representing Lewis County. Friends will be received at the Morris Funeral Home, Jane Lew, Thursday evening from 6-9 p.m. Funeral services will be held at the funeral home Friday morning at 11 a.m. with Rev. Curtis Saville officiating. Burial will follow in the Broad Run Cemetery. Good Hope Chapter 109 Order of the Eastern Star will hold services at the funeral home Thursday evening at 8 p.m. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested memorial donations be sent to Peoples Hospice, P.O. Box 1680 Clarksburg, WV 26302. =========================================================

Christine graduated from Jane Lew High School at age 16 and from West Virginia Wesleyan College at 20. She returned to Jane Lew High School to teach mathematics and social studies for four years until she married. She was a charter member of Methodist Womens club at the Jane Lew First United Methodist Church where she also served as a member of the Board of Trustees for over 50 years and served as a Sunday School Teacher. She was also a member of the Choir. She was a member and Past Matron of Good Hope Chapter OES and was presented with her sixty-year pin by her son, William. She was a member of the Jane Lew Extension Club for over 40 years and served as a member of the Stonewall Regional Library Board for many years. She was a farmer and a talented investor in the stock market. An interesting sidelight is the fact that she got her hair done at Belva Seitz Beauty Shop in Jane Lew and was Belva's 10:00AM Saturday appointment for over 65 years.

Jerry Gross remembered mention in Mary Jackson's obit of her cousin; Christine Jackson White, which brought him back to remembering the enclosed article. It tells of the discrimination that Christine suffered as a teacher in WV. Below is a small excerpt from 'Persecution and Acceptance: The Strange History of Discrimination Against Married Women Teachers in West Virginia' By Robert J. O'Brien Volume 56 (1997), pp. 56-75

"The case of Christine Jackson White demonstrates the process and impact of the dismissal of a married woman. Born in Lewis County in 1910, she graduated from Lewis County High School before attending West Virginia Wesleyan College. Her father William Addison Jackson, who never attended high school, had a particular love of learning and had persuaded his parents to board a subscription teacher so that he could ride behind the teacher when the gentleman travelled to a school some distance from the house. White's mother Sarah Blanche Hall Jackson had been a teacher before her marriage. Her father must have been especially proud of his daughter who returned from college to teach mathematics and history, among other subjects, at Lewis County High School in 1931, then operated by a district board. Two years later the county board system went into effect, and near the end of its first year the Lewis County Board of Education adopted the following policy: . . . (2) That no married woman will be employed by the Board to teach during the school year 1934-35, and if it is discovered that any lady teacher was married at the time of her appointment or gets married at any time during the school term, her position will immediately be declared vacant.21 Christine Jackson White claims she was not informed of this policy. In May 1935 she was selected to teach for the academic year 1935-36. A month later on June 9 she married Carson White, the son of a local grain dealer.22 About the time she returned from her honeymoon the board acted: The Board of Education received definite information that Miss Christine Jackson, who was employed at the meeting on May 6th, had since that time been married and upon motion duly made the Board ordered that in accordance with the qualification order made at the meeting on May 6th, the position held by Christine Jackson be declared vacant. Upon motion duly made, the Board appointed to fill the vacancy Howard D. Childers.23 Christine White reports that she was not notified that the board planned to consider this issue and was not personally notified of the actions of the board. She learned she did not have a job when she read in the newspaper the list of teachers hired for the upcoming year. The process required by law, including written notice and an opportunity to be heard by the board, had been totally ignored. It is not surprising that her replacement, Howard Childers, was also married; it is perhaps more surprising that when the school needed a substitute for him, White was called upon-and she agreed on those occasions to return to her classroom. Because she loved to teach, she agreed to substitute for her replacement. The decision of the Lewis County board was a blow to a number of people. It was a profound disappointment to William Jackson. He had worked to send his daughter to the high school that had not been available to him. He had worked to send her through college, an achievement he never had an opportunity to dream of for himself. He had seen her return to her home county as a high school teacher and had the additional satisfaction of seeing her married to the son of a man with whom he had frequent dealings. Then the Lewis County Board of Education took away the blossoming product of his efforts. It was also a blow to the young couple, who had planned on two incomes. Carson White had gone to business school, but with the dismissal of his wife he had to devote all of his energy to supporting his family and give up any hope of further education. Subsequently, Christine Jackson White learned that another woman teaching in the Lewis County schools was rumored to have been secretly married, but since the Whites were well known in the county, attempting to hide their marriage would have been useless, even if they had known of the policy. As a matter of fact, the 1934-35 policy adopted by the Lewis County Board of Education is not recorded in the minutes for the 1935-36 school year. Even if it had been adopted it was clearly in violation of statute law and the Jameson I ruling. Nevertheless, when asked whether she ever considered seeking a lawyer and suing the Lewis board, she answered, "No. I didn't know that I could. That was policy." Even when such policies were not directly challenged, it is not surprising that some women sought to evade their enforcement. Stories abound of couples who kept their marriages secret, even maintaining separate residences, and school boards countered these tactics. Doddridge, Monongalia, and Wirt counties adopted policies similar to that of Braxton, invalidating contracts with women who were married but signed their contracts with their maiden names: The superintendent further stated that cases had occurred wherein married application using their maiden name. He made reference to a letter to teachers when application blanks were mailed, in which letter they were supposed to use their correct name. . . . The following recommendations were made; 1. That teachers who are married at the time they apply for a position and make application in their maiden name, be replaced by the Board before the opening of school. . . .24 The minutes of the boards of education of Braxton and Wirt counties do not reveal any other suggestion that married women were not accepted as teachers; the implication of these maiden name policies is an unwritten policy against hiring married women as teachers."

1. ↑ Obituary.

   Res from obit of cousin, Mary M. Jackson.

2.   Email from William Carson "Bill" White of Jane Lew, WV. (janelewbill at gmail add the dot com).