African American Centenarian Stories: Mrs. Jennie Mae Jefferson (Educator & Civil Rights Activist)

96-year-old educator and Civil Rights worker Mrs. Jennie Mae Jefferson was born in Charleston, South Carolina, and raised in Berkeley County, South Carolina.

Mrs. Jefferson spoke about growing up in the coastal part of eastern South Carolina in the 1930s and 40s. She shared her memories about how her community cared for one another and shared resources despite not having financial wealth.

Mrs. Jefferson went on to talk about burial practices in places that did not have an undertaker:

• Preparing bodies in the home
• How community carpenters would arrive to make the coffins
• The practice of sitting with the deceased and their family in the home
• How coffins were transported by a mule and wagon
• Leaving the deceased person’s personal items on top of their grave
• The practice of leaving money at the gravesite

She shared her memories of her education. She tells the story of how her mother sacrificed to ensure that Mrs. Jefferson could attend Morris College (Sumter County, South Carolina) where she studied elementary education.

Mrs. Jefferson spoke about how she started her teaching career teaching in segregated Black schools. She would later teach at a white school. She shared her experience of going from an all-Black educational setting to a white educational setting.

The later part of her interview covered her approaches to teaching, her faith life, and her work in the South Carolina Civil Rights movement.

If you have a family or community member who is 90 years old or older, we would love to interview them as part of our Centenarian Stories archive. People who live more than 90 minutes from the museum can arrange for an online interview.

Please email [email protected] for more information.