Glory Reitz
Local educator and matriarch Magnolia Bradley Jackson celebrated her 106th birthday Thursday with proclamations from the city and her alma mater Bethune-Cookman University.
Jackson was born March 14, 1918, to Thomas and Maria Bradley in Rochelle, an unincorporated community in southeast Alachua County. Though she is the Bradleys’ last living child, generations of nieces, nephews and cousins showed up for Jackson’s birthday party.
“We want you to know that you are our Miss America today,” Jackson’s niece, Bennie Edwards, told her. “We are here to honor you, to celebrate you, and most of all to love you.”
Dressed in hot pinks and other popping colors, family and community members clapped, sang and recorded the ceremony as Jackson received portraits, proclamations and a quilt on the steps of Gainesville City Hall.
Jackson graduated from Lincoln High School in 1936, when it was an all-black school. In 1944, she graduated from Bethune-Cookman College, now University, in Daytona Beach, making her the institution’s oldest living alum.
Travis George, president of the BCU alumni association, said Jackson has set an example for the BCU students who came after her.
“On behalf of the alumni association, we would like to thank Miss Magnolia for her great perseverance and dedication, things that she has done to help preserve the heritage of our university and our fine institution,” George said. “And I hope that as alumnus we will not let you down, by continuing, trying to continue to follow the legacy that you left behind.”
Dr. Crystal deGregory, director of BCU’s Center for the Study of Women and Girls, read a proclamation from the university, calling Jackson “a beacon of inspiration and embodiment of resilience.”
“[Jackson etched] her name in history as a trailblazer,” deGregory read, “who not only shattered barriers, but also ignited a legacy of learning within her own family for generations to come.”
After graduating with a Bachelor of Science in education, Jackson spent over 40 years teaching school in Alachua County. She began her teaching career at Alachua Elementary School, then moved to Hawthorne Elementary School after several years.
Jackson also served as principal of historically-Black Rochelle Elementary School until it closed in 1977.
Around the end of World War II, Magnolia Bradley married Johnnie Jackson. They were together until his death in 1995.
Jackson’s birthday celebration began on Wednesday, with a trip to Disney World. Mayor Harvey Ward, who read a city proclamation declaring March 14, 2024, Magnolia Jackson Day in Gainesville, said the family works hard each year to make Jackson’s birthday a big deal.
“I… invite all our neighbors to join me in celebrating Magnolia Bradley Jackson’s lifelong legacy of honoring family, instilling education and building a solid moral foundation for future generations,” Ward said after reading the proclamation. “You, Miss Jackson, are worthy of this recognition in all of its glory.”
OMG , she was my kindergarten teacher at Chester Shell Elementary. Mannnn I would love to see her.