Artura Jackson ’14, M’16

Jackson started at Salisbury University as an elementary education major and history minor. She spent three semesters on academic probation and was failing her major, but she loved history and museums.

“I didn’t know any historians and didn’t think I would find work in the field,” she said. “I come from a family of educators, so I was going into teaching. But after multiple attempts to succeed, I found myself in [associate vice president of academic affairs] Dr. Melissa Boog’s office faced with a tough decision. Change my major or drop out of college.”

She switched to history, allowing her passion to push her into her purpose, and actually graduated twice from SU’s History Program, earning her bachelor’s in 2014 and master’s in 2016.

Today, Jackson is a historian with the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission’s Black History Program, and the site manager at the historic Ridgeley Rosenwald School.

“I love that I get to serve my community,” said the Prince George’s County native. “I daydreamed about working here. I get to help tell the story of my community, I get to educate my community and I get to preserve the history of my community.”

Jackson credits SU history faculty with truly seeing and believing in her – to this day.

“I was mentored by amazing professors who supported my dreams,” she said, like Dr. Dean Kotlowski, who helped her overcome the loss of her older brother.

“I remember the first time I got an A in his class I put it on my fridge,” she said. “He thought I was smart and really believed I could do this. He encouraged me, and I became one of his biggest fans. I took almost every course of his.”

Dr. Kara French became her research mentor, leading to a presentation at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research.

“When I came to her about a research project on the Black community in Allen, MD, she supported us,” Jackson said. “My passion for researching and telling stories really bloomed.

“I remember going to the University of Kentucky, standing in the auditorium, and telling this Eastern Shore history to a broader audience. That really inspired me to continue on to graduate school.”

Jackson earned a graduate assistantship with SU’s Edward H. Nabb Center for Delmarva History and Culture, where she curated one of her first exhibitions and earned a President’s Diversity and Inclusion Champion Award.

“In graduate school, I got to research and meet the most amazing woman I have ever known: Maryland’s mother of civil rights, Gloria Richardson (pictured above with Jackson and Dr. Clara Small), leader of the Cambridge civil rights movement,” Jackson said, recalling how longtime SU history professor Dr. Clara Small took time to drive her to Philadelphia.

“It was that moment for me. To see this woman who looks like me, who is from my state, and who has this similar zeal and zest as me was incredible.”

At SU, Jackson also led Colleges Against Cancer. She still uses skills she learned from Relay For Life today, like talking about issues in an impactful way.

While Jackson loved telling Eastern Shore stories at SU, she really wanted to do that work in her home community. She had been a swim instructor for the Prince George’s Department of Parks and Recreation and worked her way up from there.

We don’t dictate what happened in the past, but we can dictate the future. We move ahead together

Artura Jackson ’14, M’16

“We are allowed to be imaginative here,” she said. “We offer hundreds of summer camps, and in 2017, we created a She The People camp for girls to get excited about the political process. We took them to the Capitol and Supreme Court. I was able to create curriculum and activities. We made politics and history fun for a week.”

In 2019, Jackson earned a Prince George’s County 40 Under 40 Award, in part for the camp. She’s proud that many of the participants went back to their schools and got engaged.

Since taking over the schoolhouse in 2022, Jackson has been focused on getting it operational and developing outreach. This includes field trips for children and community events like hosting the Capital Area Food Market.

“One of my goals is to make this space accessible to the public,” she said. “If I can get you here, I can tell you more. Thinking about ways I can do that is really exciting.”

Eventually, Jackson hopes to enroll in a Ph.D. program. “Understanding history is understanding where we are going,” said Jackson, who specializes in gender studies, 20th century U.S. history and African American history. “My dream is that people see themselves reflected in stories and narratives.”

She also believes we all have a responsibility to leave the world better than we found it: “We don’t dictate what happened in the past, but we can dictate the future. We move ahead together.”