Picture of Fran and Don Jackson, bride and groom, on their wedding day.
A fund rooted in humble gratitude
On August 15, 1963, newlyweds Fran and Don Jackson packed all their belongings in their 1959 Ford and headed from Dallas, Texas to Bloomington, Indiana.
Don was ready to pursue his MBA at the School of Business (now the Kelley School), and Fran applied to Indiana University for employment. Fran quickly received a phone call from IU’s first archivist, Mary Brown Craig.
"Mary asked me to come in for an interview,” Fran remembered. “Knowing Mary, I would say she probably looked at the papers and said, ‘Well, finally someone who looks like she might have a little bit of sense.’" Of course, Fran got the job.
“I would come in in the morning, and she would tell me what she wanted me to do, which mainly was making order out of chaos.”
At that time, the University Archives was located in the Administration Building, Bryan Hall, and was not yet part of the IU Libraries. “It was interesting because the Archives office opened out into the hallway, and President Elvis Stahr’s office was across,” Don recollected. “Periodically, he would stick his head in."
“We started in a $60 per month, one room apartment. Fran brought home like $29 per week,” Don noted. “We lived off that for several months, and at one time, our bank account got down to six cents. There were no rich relatives sending us checks.
“And so, we really look at where are now and say, ‘We are here by the Grace of God. Everything we have comes from Him," Don continues. "Yes, we worked hard, but He gave us the skills. It is not our money. It is His money to help others do things.'”
A mutual interest in antiques
One of Mary’s priorities during Fran’s tenure was furnishing the Wylie House Museum. This uncovered a shared affinity between Mary and the Jacksons – antiques.
According to Don and Fran, Mary’s extensive antique collectors’ network more than qualified her to equip the restored home of IU’s first president. Mary often brought Fran along for their shopping trips or sent the Jacksons to follow up on her leads.
Don and Fran arrived in Bloomington with an interest in antique collecting. So Mary’s travel assignments to rural southern Indiana led to memorable adventures.“All of these places, you would go in and say, ‘Mary Craig sent us.’ And they would say, ‘Come in, come in,’” Don remembered. “These people all had a list of what Mary wanted. Mary was picky, but we were not.”
Fran and Don Jackson today
Moving up with hard work
Just as Mary mentored Fran, Don credits Business faculty such as Harry Sauvain, Eddie Edwards, Joseph Belth, Les Waters, and E. Wainwright Martin for helping Don earn his MBA in 1965. The Jacksons moved on to Austin, Texas so Don could complete his Ph.D. from the University of Texas before returning to Dallas and their undergraduate alma mater, Southern Methodist University (SMU), in 1967.
Don enjoyed a distinguished faculty career at SMU’s Cox School of Business. In 2010, SMU graduate and trustee David Miller honored Don by providing the lead donation to establish the Don Jackson Center for Financial Studies at Cox.
Cherishing what IU gave
Amidst all of their accomplishments, the Jacksons have never forgotten the springboard that Indiana University provided. Their energy and enthusiasm are contagious.
When Fran worked for Mary at University Archives, Herman Wells was a frequent visitor. Because of their warm memories of Dr. Wells, the Jacksons have been loyal annual donors to the Kelley School of Business and IU Libraries for years. The IU Libraries’ development office outreach introduced the Jacksons to current University Archives Director Dina Kellams.
“I love connecting with alumni and hearing their IU stories, so I looked forward to meeting Don and Fran,” Dina said. “I was floored to hear that Fran had worked at the University Archives with IU’s first archivist, Mary Brown Craig, and to hear some of her stories of my enigmatic predecessor!
“Over the past few years, we have continued to share Archives updates with the Jacksons and their main question for me is always – ‘how can we help you?’ It is heartwarming to know that their experience at IU was so impactful that they want to give back all these years later.”
As a tribute to Mary’s tireless behind-the-scenes effort to preserve institutional heritage and make it accessible, the Jacksons have established the Mary Brown Craig University Archives Special Project Fund. This multi-donor account underwrites the expenses associated with initiatives such as the Indiana Daily Student digitization.
“Mary became one of the dearest people in my life,” Fran recalled. “She was notoriously low-profile. She was not open to any kind of compliment or sharing personal information. Despite that, I just grew to love her."
Photo of the Business School courtesy of the University Archives, P0023317
Photo of Bryan Hall courtesy of the University Archives, P0051698