As one of 17 Black students that attended the university at the time, Jackson prioritized creating safe spaces for African American community members.
Through the networks that she formed in California, Jackson returned back to her home state in 1935 to develop programs around education and health care for poor, rural Black folks.
Ida Louise Jackson’s contributions were celebrated by her alma mater and the University of California, Berkeley named their first graduate apartment housing unit in her honor.
In an interview with the Bancroft Library, as part of their Black Alumni series, Jackson recalls the time her father told her and her siblings to, “Get an education.
It's the one thing the white man can't take from you.”[2] Jackson spoke at length about the value of education that was instilled in her at a young age and her parents’ view of schooling increasing their access to opportunities.
Jackson’s mother was fearful of what would happen to her sons, so she encouraged them to move to California in hopes of securing better jobs and a sense of safety in the West.
After receiving her Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of California in 1922, Jackson applied to work in the Oakland School District.
Even after receiving these two degrees, Jackson recalled that the general consensus of administrators was that a Black person was not qualified or experienced enough to teach in the school district.
In 1923, Jackson moved to the Imperial Valley and accepted a teaching position at Eastside high school in El Centro.
Before submitting her intent for a teaching position in the Oakland Public School District for the third time, she spoke with her NAACP chapter members about the difficulties that she had encountered during her first applications.
In 1934, she was featured in a local newspaper for her contribution to the launching of Negro History Week in California, specifically within her school district.
Her goals did not end there, she never forgot about her home state of Mississippi and the poor, rural Black folks that needed support.
In addition to this, with the help of Dr. Dorothy Boulding Ferebee and AKA volunteers, Jackson co-founded and became general director of the Mississippi Health Project.
[4] At first this project had goals of establishing physical locations, but Jackson and her team quickly realized that community members had difficulty traveling to centers.
In order to adapt to the needs of those they wished to serve, Jackson helped to evolve these centers into mobile clinics that would move throughout the area.
Finally, the efforts by Jackson, Dr. Ferebee, and AKA volunteers were receiving national attention so much so that they were invited to the White House twice.
They were given the opportunity to speak with then President Roosevelt and the first lady about the specific challenges they had encountered while providing health care in the segregated South.
In 1936, during their second visit to the white house Jackson spoke on various issues with Eleanor Roosevelt covering topics such as health, federal jobs, and railway discrimination.
Finally throughout her time with all these projects and position changes, she was actively involved in the NAACP, the YWCA, and the National Council of Negro Women.
Some of Dr. Jackson’s written works include Development of Negro Children in Reference to Education (1923) and Librarians' Role in Creating Racial Understanding (1944).
In 1979, she donated her ranch to UC Berkeley and specified that the proceeds of its sale be used to develop and fund a graduate fellowship among Black students.