The Hon. Marie Oliver Jackson (Ret.) was first justice of the Woburn District Court in Massachusetts. She was appointed to the bench by former Governor Ed King in 1980. At the time, she held the distinction of being the first African American woman to be appointed to the District Court in Massachusetts.
Jackson received a bachelor’s degree from Mount Holyoke College in 1969. She then completed a J.D. at Harvard Law School in 1972.
After law school, Jackson joined Cambridge-Somerville Legal Services. Then, in 1976, she became an assistant secretary and general counsel for the Executive Office for Administration and Finance, a position she was appointed to by both former Governor’s Michael Dukakis and Ed King. Jackson remained in that capacity until assuming the District Court bench in 1980.
She served as president of the Board of Directors of the West Medford Community Center and as president of the Massachusetts Black Judges Association. She was also an active member of Shiloh Baptist Church.
Jackson was born in Rankin, Pennsylvania, the oldest of six children.