Nannie Cox Jackson was a life-long educator in Charlottesville. She was born here in 1864. She taught school for 46 years, 25 of them at the Jefferson School, which was the school for African-American children prior to desegregation. She started a new class, domestic science, where both boys and girls learned to cook and sew. She created the first hot lunch program in the city schools, started at her own expense. She is also credited with organizing the first football team in the Charlottesville schools and even fed the team and coaches after each game. Nannie Cox Jackson was a tireless leader, devoted to her family, students and her community, and dedicated to caring for the hungry. She died in 1953. One of Charlottesville's schools, Jackson-Via Elementary, now bears her name.