Dorothy Jackson was born in Akron, on November 9, 1933 as the youngest of seven children. She attended Akron's Robinson Elementary School and East High, where she graduated in 1951. She worked for Goodwill Industries as a secretary and later as assistant public relations director. She then worked for the Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority as the social and tenant services administrator. In 1984, Jackson became Deputy Mayor for the city of Akron. She is the recipient of many awards and honors, including the Women in History Week Woman of the Year, the United Way Distinguished Service Award and the Bert A. Polsky Humanitarian Award. In 2002, she was interviewed by The HistoryMakers. The HistoryMakers is a national, non-profit educational institution committed to preserving, developing and providing access to thousands of African American video oral histories.