Etta Mae Jackson Dawson
Etta Mae Jackson-Dawson was born in 1919 to Richmond and Codella Baker Jackson in Beulah Mississippi and was reared in Kansas City Kansas. She prepared for a teaching career and taught in the Kansas City public schools for 8 years before moving to Tucson to teach at Dunbar Junior High. After 32 years of service to the TUSD community she retired. Etta has contributed to her community as a volunteer serving through several community organizations. She is a participating member of Mount Calvary Missionary Baptist Church the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. the Tucson Chapter of the Links Inc. and many other organizations. In 1989 she was recognized by the University of Arizona Black Alumni as a Phenomenal Woman. As a member of the Tucson chapter of the Links Inc. in 1970 Etta proposed a sickle cell program and project which has been supported and sponsored by the Links Chapter for 30 years. The project has evolved into becoming a part of a sickle cell clinic co-sponsored with the State of Arizona Health Department to benefit sickle cell patients and their families in Southern Arizona. For her endeavors Etta has been recognized in the Hall of Fame of the Sickle Cell Anemia Society of Arizona 1993. A plaque bearing her name hands on the wall in the office of the Society in Phoenix along with the names of others who have worked diligently to break the sickle cycle for the purpose of improving the quality of their lives. Etta is also honored in the Plaza on the African American Women's Arch.