Ruth Jackson

Ruth J. Jackson (born March 31, 1898 in Gadsden; died 1982) was the founding owner of the Birmingham branch of the Poro School of Beauty Culture and a champion for education.

Jackson graduated from Gadsden High School and later attended Crane Junior College in Chicago, Illinois. She trained as a beautician under Annie Turnbo's "Poro School" system and opened a salon and school in Birmingham in 1935. She and her lead instructor Wilma Nichols educated generations of women, many of whom became business owners.

Jackson was an active member and officer of Thirgood Memorial CME Church, and a director of the Jefferson County Housewives League and several other civic organizations. She was a one-time chair of the Southern Beauty Congress and a founder of the Alabama Association of Modern Beauticians. Those organizations together presented a portrait bas-relief bust of Jackson to the City of Birmingham, which is displayed at Kelly Ingram Park.

Jackson was presented with an honorary doctorate from Miles College and from the National Beauty Culture Institute at Tennessee Agricultural & Industrial College in Nashville.