Since 1976, Ms. Jackson had worked in corporate training development, moving to Lakewood from Los Angeles, when her husband, now deceased, accepted a position in Northeast Ohio with TRW. Ms. Jackson furthered her corporate work at Parker Hannifin Corporation. But after helping Ms. Mastrandreas-Dadas in the vintage fashion show, her interests changed. In 1996, the close friends set up a long-range plan for Women in History.

“I was in graduate school at Case Western Reserve for organizational development,” recalls Ms. Jackson. “Sophie was going back to get her degree in counseling so that we could set up a practice together. We were both widows with children and thought this would give us a way to support ourselves and allow flexibility to develop Women in History.”

The duo agreed that Ms. Mastrandreas-Dadas would lead the organization while Ms. Jackson completed her degree, which she earned in May 1997. Ms. Mastrandreas-Dadas was to begin her studies the following January, but, in October 1997, she was killed in a car accident.

“When I went through the master’s program at CWRU, I went to a weekend career workshop where we assessed our life goals, highs and lows of life, and accomplishments. I came away from the workshop feeling that I was not getting personal satisfaction from the corporate world.” It wasn’t until December 1999, however, with her three children grown, that Ms. Jackson was able to make good on her word to promote Women in History. She left Parker Hannifin to establish Match Method Solutions, a consulting business designed to get people and companies thinking creatively, giving them the tools to make positive changes at their organizations. She applies those skills to Women in History, and hopes one day to do it full time as its paid executive director.

Ultimately, Ms. Jackson would like the group to become part of the Smithsonian Institution’s Discovery Theater in Washington, DC, which supports educational road shows across the country. The theater emphasizes using materials from primary sources, such as diaries, letters, government documents, and speeches, as does Women in History.

In the meantime, the group continues to take on new projects. Members are identifying one hundred Ohio women in history for Ohio’s bicentennial in 2003. Alonzo Smith, scholarly research specialist in the National Museum of American History Program in African-American Culture, has asked members to research blacks in the West for a symposium set for February 2001. Dr. Smith told Ms. Jackson that he planned to include a portrayal of Stagecoach Mary Fields, and has agreed to let Ms. Jackson review the script. Similarly, a man in Utah, who is producing a biography on Stagecoach Mary for the History Channel, called her for an on-camera interview. Her response? “Of course I said yes!”

History buff Wendy A. Hoke is a frequent contributor to CWRU Magazine.

Photograph of Ms. Jackson as Stagecoach Mary Fields by Joseph W. Darwal; other photographs courtesy of Ms. Jackson

For a complete roster of Women in History characterizations, visit the Web site at http://www.lkwdpl.org/wihohio/. For information on other famous women in history, visit Britannica on-line at http://britannica.com/women/.