Artishia Garcia Wilkerson Jordan (August 12, 1901 – February 7, 1974) was an American educator and clubwoman, based in Los Angeles.
Early life Artishia Garcia Wilkerson was born in Louisville, Kentucky, the daughter of Bernard Orange Wilkerson and Artishia Garcia Gilbert Wilkerson. Her father was an attorney; her mother was a medical doctor, who died soon after childbirth in 1904."In Memoriam: Artishia Gilbert Wilkerson" American Baptist (April 8, 1904). The younger Artishia earned degrees at Howard University (1922) and the University of Chicago (1923), and a master's degree in mathematics in 1924, from the University of California."Artishia Garcia Wilkerson Jordan" Notable Kentucky African Americans Database.
Career Jordan was a math teacher in Louisville as a young woman. She was president of the Los Angeles chapter of the National Council of Negro Women,"Los Angeles Council of Negro Women Opens Membership Drive with Meeting" Pittsburgh Courier (February 24, 1945): 11. via Newspapers.com and was active in Alpha Kappa Alpha, the NAACP, the Prince Hall Order of the Eastern Star, and the YWCA. She was on the editorial board of the Afro-American Women's Journal.
As a bishop's wife in the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), she held denominational and interdenominational positions of leadership,"Hostess" Pittsburgh Courier (July 18, 1964): 6. via Newspapers.com including a term as president of the Southern California Conference Branch. She organized the AME Ministers' Wives Alliance for Los Angeles spouses, the Interdenominational Ministers' Wives Council of Los Angeles,"Ministers Wives Council Holds Birthday Fete" California Eagle (April 2, 1942): 4A. via Internet Archive and served on the board of the Southern California Council of Church Women. She was director of the Los Angeles chapter of American Mission to Lepers.Negro who's who in California (1948): 19. via Internet Archive Jordan edited the Women's Missionary Recorder during World War II. She was active in the World Federation of Methodist Women, and as a speaker for the American Bible Society."Bishop's Wife to Speak at AME Church" Redlands Daily Facts (February 14, 1970): 2. via Newspapers.com
The Jordans traveled to South Africa several times in the 1950s, to visit churches there."Change of Heart" Chicago Defender (July 23, 1955): 2. Top AME Clergymen Attend S. Africa Event" Chicago Defender (March 29, 1958): 21. Artishia Wilkerson Jordan wrote The African Methodist Episcopal Church in Africa (1964), based on their travels.Artishia Wilkerson Jordan, The African Methodist Episcopal Church in Africa (AME Church 1964). As a member of the Our Authors Study Club, she led a successful campaign to install a plaque in memory of Biddy Mason at the Los Angeles County Museum, in 1957."Unveiling Plaque" California Eagle (February 28, 1957): 9. via Internet Archive
Personal life Artishia Wilkerson married Frederick Douglass Jordan in 1925. He became a bishop in the A. M. E. Church in 1952. She died in 1974; Frederick died in 1979.Larry G. Murphy, J. Gordon Melton, Gary L. Ward, eds., Encyclopedia of African American Religions (Routledge 2013): 413–414. Willa Mae Rice, "From This Pew" Pittsburgh Courier (March 16, 1974): 15. via Newspapers.com Frederick's parents were lawyer Dock J. Jordan and educator Carrie Thomas Jordan.
Legacy There are Artishia and Frederick Jordan Scholarship Funds at Howard University and Morris Brown College for "students who display academic excellence, a passion for community service and involvement in religious life".Tamara E. Holmes, "Bison Philanthropy: One Howard Family's Legacy of Scholarship, Giving" Howard University Magazine (Summer 2018).Jennifer Jordan, "Jordan Scholarship Fund History" The Artishia and Frederick Jordan Scholarship Fund."AME bishop gives $250,000 to Morris Brown College" Miami Times (July 8, 1976). A building at Morris Brown College in Atlanta is named Jordan Hall for Artishia Wilkerson Jordan. There is an Artishia Wilkerson Jordan Women's Missionary Society based in Los Angeles, named in her memory."Artishia Wilkerson Jordan Women's Missionary Society" Los Angeles Times (November 25, 1999): 90. via Newspapers.com
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