Dr. Jeanne Middleton-Hairston
Jeanne Middleton Hairston is the fourth child born to Chaplain (Colonel) Richard T. Middleton, II and Johnie Beadle Middleton, both families with roots in Mississippi that date to the 1860s. While Jeanne grew up in Mississippi, she attended elementary school in Fort Lewis, Washington and middle school in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. In the summer of 1964, the family returned to Jackson where she graduated from Jim Hill High School and Millsaps College.
Dr. Hairston was one of eight black students to desegregate Millsaps College, earning her Bachelor’s Degree cum laude in Political Science. Jeanne then attended Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, earning her Master’s and Doctorate degrees in Administration, Planning, and Social Policy from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. While conducting research for her doctoral dissertation, Jeanne was employed by the Jackson Public School District in the Office of Research and Evaluation. Upon completion of graduate study in 1978, Jeanne joined the Department of Education at Millsaps College, the first African American to be appointed to the College’s teaching faculty. While at Millsaps College, Dr. Hairston served as Chair of the Department of Education for eleven years and achieved national accreditation for the college’s teacher education program for the first time in the college’s history. Dr. Hairston also founded the Millsaps College Principals' Institute which will celebrate this summer its 28th year of service to educators throughout the southeast and beyond.
Dr. Hairston also is a contributing author of the 9th grade history textbook, Mississippi: Conflict and Change, winner of the Lillian Smith Book Award in 1976. Jeanne continues to support parents and educators through her work to create honest and appropriate texts for history and social studies instruction throughout America's schools. During her more than 25 years of experience in public and private pk-12 and post-secondary education, she provided professional and educational services to a diverse array of school districts, colleges and universities, community stakeholders, public officials, parent organizations and youth groups. Dr. Hairston recently completed 10 years as the National Director of the Children’s Defense Fund Freedom Schools® Program headquartered in Washington, DC, serving in 2013 more than 11,000 children and families in 96 cities and 29 states. Upon returning home to Jackson, she provided consultant services to the Mississippi Department of Archives and History in support of the 2Mississippi Museums opening in December. Jeanne is married to James M. Hairston, Jr. and is the proud mother of two daughters, Johnie Valeska and Valara Jeanne, grandson Micah and bonus son J.R. Hairston.