Irma Green

Irma Green Jackson was born in Shreveport, Caddo Parish, Louisiana, the daughter of Noah Green and Louise A. Roundtree Green.  She graduated from Central Colored High School in Shreveport, attended Wiley College in Marshall, Texas, and completed further study at Bishop College with a degree in biological science, later pursuing graduate work at Atlanta University and Tuskegee Institute to prepare for advanced roles in education. Over a 42-year career in the Caddo Parish School System—including 23 years as principal of Brook(s) Street Elementary School—she became a prominent Black educator and school leader in Shreveport. A longtime member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., she was active in Nu Omega Chapter by the early 1940s and in 1947 became a charter member of Delta Lambda Omega Chapter in Shreveport.  Some of her highlighted work with the ivy dealt with hospital patients, polio campaigns, and veterans. Her civic and religious service extended through St. Paul United Methodist Church, where she served on the administrative board and on the National Board of Missions and Church Extensions, and through veterans’ and service organizations including the Women’s Army Corps Extension, American Red Cross, and Disabled Veterans Administration, culminating in a 1986 Veterans of Foreign Wars citation for community service. Irma married Leroy A. Jackson, and their children—Leroy A. Jackson Jr., Dorothy Jackson Flanagan, Rita Jackson Logan, and Lisa A. Jackson Hudgins—were all named among her survivors. She died in Shreveport on 11 May 1998 after a lengthy illness, with services at St. Paul United Methodist Church and burial at Forest Park Cemetery, remembered locally as an educator, Alpha Kappa Alpha founder, Methodist lay leader, and advocate for veterans, seniors, and children.