Artishia Wilkerson Jordan

Artishia Garcia Wilkerson Jordan (August 12, 1901 – February 7, 1974) was an American educator and clubwoman, based in Los Angeles.

Artishia Wilkerson Jordan
Artishia Wilkerson Jordan as a student, from a 1923 publication.
Born
Artishia Garcia Wilkerson

August 12, 1901
Louisville, Kentucky, US
DiedFebruary 7, 1974
Occupationclubwoman, church leader, philanthropist
Known forscholarship funds and mission work
Notable work
The African Methodist Episcopal Church in Africa (1964)

Early life

Artishia Garcia Wilkerson was born in Louisville, Kentucky, the daughter of Bernard Orange Wilkerson and Artishia Garcia Gilbert Wilkerson. Her father was an attorney; her mother was a medical doctor, who died soon after childbirth in 1904.[1] The younger Artishia earned degrees at Howard University (1922) and the University of Chicago (1923), and a master's degree in mathematics in 1924, from the University of California.[2]

Career

Jordan was a math teacher in Louisville as a young woman. She was president of the Los Angeles chapter of the National Council of Negro Women,[3] and was active in Alpha Kappa Alpha, the NAACP, the Order of the Eastern Star, and the YWCA. She was on the editorial board of the Afro-American Women's Journal.[2]

As a bishop's wife in the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), she held denominational and interdenominational positions of leadership,[4] including a term as president of the Southern California Conference Branch. She organized the AME Ministers' Wives Alliance for Los Angeles spouses, the Interdenominational Ministers' Wives Council of Los Angeles,[5] and served on the board of the Southern California Council of Church Women. She was director of the Los Angeles chapter of American Mission to Lepers.[6] Jordan edited the Women's Missionary Recorder during World War II.[2] She was active in the World Federation of Methodist Women, and as a speaker for the American Bible Society.[7]

The Jordans traveled to South Africa several times in the 1950s, to visit churches there.[8][9] Artishia Wilkerson Jordan wrote The African Methodist Episcopal Church in Africa (1964), based on their travels.[10] As a member of the Our Authors Study Club, she led a successful campaign to install a plaque in memory of Biddy Mason at the Los Angeles County Museum, in 1957.[11]

Personal life

Artishia Wilkerson married Frederick Douglass Jordan in 1925. He became a bishop in the A. M. E. Church in 1952. She died in 1974; Frederick died in 1979.[12][13] Frederick's parents were lawyer Dock J. Jordan and educator Carrie Thomas Jordan.

Legacy

There are Artishia and Frederick Jordan Scholarship Funds at Howard University and Morris Brown College for "students who display academic excellence, a passion for community service and involvement in religious life".[14][15][16] A building at Morris Brown College in Atlanta is named Jordan Hall for Artishia Wilkerson Jordan.[2] There is an Artishia Wilkerson Jordan Women's Missionary Society based in Los Angeles, named in her memory.[17]

References
  1. "In Memoriam: Artishia Gilbert Wilkerson" American Baptist (April 8, 1904).
  2. "Artishia Garcia Wilkerson Jordan" Notable Kentucky African Americans Database.
  3. "Los Angeles Council of Negro Women Opens Membership Drive with Meeting" Pittsburgh Courier (February 24, 1945): 11. via Newspapers.com
  4. "Hostess" Pittsburgh Courier (July 18, 1964): 6. via Newspapers.com
  5. "Ministers Wives Council Holds Birthday Fete" California Eagle (April 2, 1942): 4A. via Internet Archive
  6. Negro who's who in California (1948): 19. via Internet Archive
  7. "Bishop's Wife to Speak at AME Church" Redlands Daily Facts (February 14, 1970): 2. via Newspapers.com
  8. "Change of Heart" Chicago Defender (July 23, 1955): 2. via ProQuest
  9. Top AME Clergymen Attend S. Africa Event" Chicago Defender (March 29, 1958): 21. via ProQuest
  10. Artishia Wilkerson Jordan, The African Methodist Episcopal Church in Africa (AME Church 1964).
  11. "Unveiling Plaque" California Eagle (February 28, 1957): 9. via Internet Archive
  12. Larry G. Murphy, J. Gordon Melton, Gary L. Ward, eds., Encyclopedia of African American Religions (Routledge 2013): 413-414. ISBN 9781135513382
  13. Willa Mae Rice, "From This Pew" Pittsburgh Courier (March 16, 1974): 15. via Newspapers.com
  14. Tamara E. Holmes, "Bison Philanthropy: One Howard Family's Legacy of Scholarship, Giving" Howard University Magazine (Summer 2018).
  15. Jennifer Jordan, "Jordan Scholarship Fund History" The Artishia and Frederick Jordan Scholarship Fund.
  16. "AME bishop gives $250,000 to Morris Brown College" Miami Times (July 8, 1976). via ProQuest
  17. "Artishia Wilkerson Jordan Women's Missionary Society" Los Angeles Times (November 25, 1999): 90. via Newspapers.com
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