HUDSON, JEAN ROBERTA (6 Dec. 1919-2 July 1992), educator and expert on Cleveland history, was born in Philadelphia, the only child of J. Jones and Mary Porter Hudson. After graduation from CLEVELAND HEIGHTS High School in 1938, she attended the College of Wooster, receiving a B.A. degree in sociology in 1942. She obtained an M.A. degree in education from the Graduate School of Western Reserve University (see CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY) in 1961. In the late 1940s and early 1950s Hudson served as an assistant to John Barden Dean of the School of General Studies at Western Reserve University and project coordinator for the Adult Education Association, U.S.A. She joined the SHAKER HEIGHTS school system in 1958, teaching upper level elementary classes at Sussex school for 25 years before retiring in 1983. A gifted educator, she received the distinguished teacher award from the MARTHA HOLDEN JENNINGS FOUNDATION in 1969-70 and prepared curriculum materials for the Educational Research Council of Greater Cleveland.
Her expertise in Cleveland history grew out of her work as a writer and research assistant to William Ganson Rose, author of Cleveland The Making of a City, and later when she prepared over 130 articles for the first edition of the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. Her knowledge of local history was expanded as curator of the Shaker Historical Museum 1986-1992. where she created exhibits and programs, and wrote extensively on the NORTH UNION SHAKER COMMUNITY.
Ms. Hudson died suddenly at her home in Shaker Heights and was buried at LAKE VIEW CEMETERY. She never married.