Marvel Jackson Cooke (April 4, 1903 – November 29, 2000) was a pioneering American journalist, writer, and civil rights activist. She was the first African-American woman to work at a mainstream white-owned newspaper.
Early life and education
Marvel Jackson was the first black child to be born in Mankato, Minnesota. Her parents were Madison Jackson and Amy Wood Jackson. After first purchasing their home, residents held demonstrations on the Jackson's lawn in protest of a black family moving into the area. In addition to writing the column, named "In the Magazines," Cooke laid out the newspaper. Her first series for the paper, beginning April 16, was "Occupation: Streetwalker" which chronicled the process of prostitution in the area; she also published a piece that detailed black children's drug use entitled "From Candy to Heroin." Cooke revealed many upsetting working conditions for domestic laborers, including how the white women who hired black women would pay significantly less than the rate established by the New York State Employment Service.