Bailey, Jackson, March 22, 1980

Jackson Bailey (1925-1996) was born in Portland, Maine in 1925. He graduated from a Quaker high school right before the occupation. Bailey was drafted into the Army Medical Corps in 1944 where he trained to be a cook and baker. In 1945, he was assigned to General MacArthur’s Headquarters in Manila, Philippines, and moved with MacArthur when he relocated to Japan after the war. Bailey was the first American to meet with Japanese Quakers after the war. After his time in Japan, Bailey returned to the United States and finished his education, eventually earning his PhD in Asian History at Harvard. He went on to work at Earlham College, becoming the founder of the Institute for Education on Japan which provides a programs for students majoring in Japanese Studies. He also created the Assistant English Teaching Program which gave American students the opportunity to teach English to Japanese children. Bailey was a professor of history at Earlham College until his retirement in 1994, becoming an expert in Japanese culture and Japanese-American relations. He passed away in Vermont in 1996.