E. Belle Mitchell Jackson (December 31, 1848 – October 6, 1942)[1] was an American educator, activist, small business owner, and abolitionist from Danville, Kentucky.
[2] Prior to her early teaching positions, she attended private school in Danville, KY and Xenia, Ohio.
John Gregg Fee, an American Missionary Association (AMA) minister and abolitionist, in fall 1865 at her church in Danville.
Though her employer, the American Missionary Association strongly advocated abolitionism, members’ view toward full equality differed substantially.
[6] By December 1864, the military authorized the construction of the Home for Colored Refugees which paved the way for the school, teachers’ quarters, a mess hall, and a dormitory Included were 16 by 16 foot duplex cottages for families, a mess hall, barracks, a school, teachers’ quarters and a dormitory.
[7] When Mitchell began teaching at Camp Nelson, enrolled at the school were 600 refugees, women and children who recently had obtained their freedom through the 1865 act.
[1][2][8] After leaving Camp Nelson, Mitchell was immediately invited to teach at The Missionary Free School of Color.
Despite the scarcities, Mitchell stated she has “reasonable hope” that her students had made progress out of their “untutored state.” She also taught in Frankfort, Louisville, Nicholasville, and Richmond, Kentucky.