A 'guiding light': Services set for education activist Mary Allen Jolley

In her 95 active years, Mary Allen Jolley broadened educational and economic opportunities for generations, serving with presidents of the U.S. and University of Alabama, founding programs to bolster underserved students, fund math and science programs in public schools, and steer women toward non-traditional jobs.

Through her varied energies and efforts, Jolley, who died Dec. 1, 2023 in Tuscaloosa, evolved into the title of her upcoming book: "Accidental Activist."

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The Sumter County native began her professional life as a teacher in Cullman County, but took on broader tasks first as staff member for U.S. Rep. Carl Elliott of Alabama, then with Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Baines Johnson, working on national education initiatives.

Returning to Alabama in 1984 to work with UA President Joab Thomas, she helped land the JVC plant for Tuscaloosa, which helped pave the way for the Mercedes-Benz coup. Jolley also helped bring Family Resource Centers to Alabama, among myriad other accomplishments.

"Mary was a woman of strength, stature and wisdom. And she was generous with her wisdom that helped influence others," said Marsha Guthrie Folsom, a longtime colleague of Jolley, and wife of former Alabama Gov. Jim Folsom Jr.

A funeral Mass for Jolley will be held at 1:30 p.m. Friday at St. Francis University Parish, 811 Fifth Ave., on the University of Alabama campus. A reception will follow at the church.

Jolley was a native of Kinterbish in Sumter County. She began her career as a teacher in Cullman County, but in 1955, she was chosen to serve as a staff member with Elliott. In that role, Jolley helped develop the National Defense Education Act of 1958, the first national student loan program, which also provided funding to support math and science education in the public schools.

She was later appointed by President Kennedy to review and evaluate national vocational education programs and later served in various posts in the administration of President Johnson.

Jolley served as vice president for development at Trident Technical College in Charleston, South Carolina, from 1977 to 1984. While working there, she fostered educational opportunities for women in non-traditional jobs.

From 1984 until 1994, she returned to Tuscaloosa as UA's director of economic and community affairs under then-President Joab Thomas. During that time, Jolley played a role in luring the JVC video tape plant to Tuscaloosa. JVC, which has since closed, was the first foreign manufacturer to open a new plant in Tuscaloosa County when it came here in the mid-1980s.

JVC’s early success here was cited by industrial recruiters in efforts to attract additional foreign manufacturers — including Mercedes-Benz — to Tuscaloosa County.

In 1994, Jolley was appointed as director of the Governor’s Office of Children and Families. One of her proudest achievements in that post was the initiation of community-based Family Resource Centers, culminating in the Alabama Network of Family Resource Centers.

The network unites nonprofit agencies and programs that provide a wide array of services designed to protect children and strengthen and support families in Alabama.

Folsom said Jolley was influential in bringing Family Resource Centers to Alabama, with the first facility opening Dothan. There are now more than 23 Family Resource Centers throughout the state.

"Mary is really the godmother of the of family resource movement in the state of Alabama," Folsom said.

Tuscaloosa's One Place named its downtown facility as the Mary Allen Jolley Center for Families in her honor.

During her lifetime, Jolley received numerous awards and honors, including an honorary doctorate of humane letters from her alma maters, the University of West Alabama and the University of Alabama. She also earned UA's Distinguished Alumna Award and the Martin Luther King Jr. Realizing the Dream Founders Award for her civil rights work.

"She (Jolley) received so many accolades and awards, but she was not one that sought those out. They came to her in recognition of what she accomplished," Folsom said.

Folsom, who serves as a member of the board of directors for the Alabama Network of Family Resource Centers, said she and Jolley shared a deep, loving friendship, and that she often looked to Jolley as a mentor. Folsom said Jolley was influential in both her professional and personal life.

"Mary was my guiding light," Folsom said.

Jolley remained active as a consultant, advocate and speaker with community organizations in her later years.

A passage in Jolley's obituary sums up her spirit: "It was a standing joke that anyone who visited Mary Jolley should prepare at departure to receive a specific task to make the world a better place."

According to a news release, Jolley died shortly after completing her autobiography, "Accidental Activist," which will be published in June by the University of West Alabama’s Livingston Press. Royalties from sales of the book will benefit the Alabama Network of Family Resource Centers.

Historian and author Wayne Flynt wrote a blurb for Jolley's upcoming book: “As the saying goes, many people frantically struggle for fame, while a handful forget themselves into immortality. Mary Jolley never sought Alabama’s spotlight, but she was seldom beyond its refractive beam when matters of greatest importance were at stake. 'Accidental Activist' is a primer for all who wish to know what was best about the state’s history, politics, and society in the 20th Century.”

Former U.S. Senator Doug Jones wrote: "Not many people know the name Mary Jolley. But her story, beginning in Alabama’s Black Belt more than 90 years ago, proves that the world can be made better by one woman’s quiet, but effective, work. In the brash bluster of our present political discourse, Mary Jolley’s life is testament to the impact of one solitary life.”

In the foreward of her memoir Jolley wrote: “Stories do have the power to change the world. I didn’t start out wanting to make changes in the world. But as I come up on my hundredth year on this planet, I realize that a few key things that happened to me helped me see where change was needed and how I could be part of making it come about. I invite you to listen to my story — and to know that you can be part of making the changes that you see need to happen.”

Staff Writer Mark Hughes Cobb contributed to this report.

Reach Jasmine Hollie at JHollie@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: A 'guiding light': Memorial scheduled for activist Mary Allen Jolley