Richie Jean Jackson, born Richie Jean Sherrod in Mobile, Alabama, in 1932, was an American author, teacher, and significant figure in the Civil Rights Movement. She was educated in Washington D.C. and Alabama, earning degrees in secondary education and later a Master of Education. Jackson's childhood friend was Coretta Scott King, and she married Dr. Sullivan Jackson, with whom she had a daughter, Jawana Virginia Jackson.

Her home in Selma, Alabama, served as a crucial meeting place for civil rights leaders. In February 1964, it hosted strategy sessions for the Selma to Montgomery marches involving Martin Luther King Jr., SCLC staff, and members of Congress. Following the events of "Bloody Sunday" on March 7, 1965, her house again became a site for important discussions, including meetings with U.S. Attorney General John Doar and Florida Governor LeRoy Collins, who represented President Lyndon Johnson. It was also in her home that Dr. King viewed President Johnson's Voting Rights Act Address. Jackson passed away in 2013.

Jackson's contributions were recognized posthumously. Her memoir, "The House by the Side of the Road: The Selma Civil Rights Movement," was published in 2011. In 2013, her life was honored in the U.S. House of Representatives. The following year, her former residence, the Sullivan and Richie Jean Jackson House, was added to the National Register of Historic Places, and she was portrayed by Niecy Nash in the film "Selma."