Jacqueline Diggs Pettiford

Jacqueline Diggs grew up on a farm in Jackson County, Ohio, member of a family of very light-skinned people who “went as black,” as she says.  Her own appearance made it possible for her to help to break down segregation in the job market in Columbus.  She was married to George “Jack” Pettiford for more than forty years and they raised four children.  When asked when he told her about his ancestry, she laughingly said, “I thought it was a joke.  I thought he was being funny.  But I had hopes -- I had hopes that he would turn out like Thomas Jefferson.”