Jackie B. Sparkman (1946 - ) graduated in 1967 from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG), majoring in history and political science. After graduating, she worked for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. While working at HUD, Sparkman earned a law degree at Temple University. After graduating from law school, she worked for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Philadelphia, the Bell Telephone Company of Pennsylvania, and the Philadelphia School District. Currently Sparkman is in private practice in Washington, DC. Sparkman recalls growing up in segregated Greenville, North Carolina, applying to college, and adjusting to college life at UNCG. She remembers the various jobs she held while attending college to pay for her schooling, her roommates, making lifelong friends with fellow black students, the few black men on campus during the 1960s, and writing the script for the Junior Class Show called 'A Girl's Dream.' Sparkman talks about her first job in the Housing Assistance Administration with HUD in Philadelphia, attending night law school at Temple University while working at HUD, and being the first African American lawyer at the Bell Telephone Company of Pennsylvania.
