Who was Jessamine Smith Henderson?

Jessamine S. Henderson was an adult educator by vocation and avocation. For 33 years, more than half her lifetime, Mrs. Henderson volunteered her expertise, her efforts, and her time tirelessly to the establishment, governance and operation of the Somerville Adult Education Council. Her service to the Council was the longest of any of its members, from the Council's beginning in 1948 until its dissolution in 1982.

In those years, Mrs. Henderson served as President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer of the Council Board of Trustees, as well as the chairman of various committees. In the years following the Council's dissolution, Mrs. Henderson aided the Hunterdon County successor adult education organization as a teacher of Somerville history and also as a registration volunteer.

Jessamine S. Henderson subscribed fully to adult education's motto: "Learning is Lifelong." On July 26, 1986, Mrs. Henderson and her husband Richard were tragically killed in an automobile accident. It is the purpose of this fund to carry on and perpetuate the spirit of Jessamine S. Henderson, who dedicated so much of her life to adult education in the Greater Somerville area.