The Persistent Path to Making Person County History – A Conversation with Person County’s First Female County Commissioner
First Female Person County Commissioner Jean Andrews proudly displays Person County Strategic Plan Reports. By Sherry Wilborn
Making History
History was made in Person County in 1992 when Mrs. Jean Andrews was elected as the first female county commissioner. There were many things that made this victory special and unusual. Not only was she a woman, but she was an Asian American, of Japanese descent. She was not a native of the rural county whose citizens chose her to represent them, and her successful bid was at the expense of an incumbent veteran commissioner.
Jean’s win did not come easily, however; it followed two previously unsuccessful campaigns. But if there was one thing her upbringing taught her, it was persistence.
The Formative Years
Jean was born in Colorado and was four years old in 1941 when the attack on Pearl Harbor occurred. A few months later, in February of 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, which led to the incarceration of many Japanese Americans living on the west coast. Thought to be a threat to national security, they were moved to internment camps further inland.
While Jean’s immediate family was not directly impacted by the order, she had cousins from California who came to live with her grandparents, and the way that Japanese Americans were viewed changed throughout America after that event. Jean recounted her family having to use blackout curtains on the windows of their home, being told by her parents not to speak in Japanese anymore, and experiencing harsh mistreatment from the other children on the school bus for her first years of primary school.
Though there were hardships, Jean witnessed her grandparents making use of their large farm to “sponsor” many of those who had been incarcerated, since the only way to leave the internment camps, according to Jean, was to have a sponsor, be assured of housing, and to have a job. Through the family farm, her grandparents could provide all three.
The Path to Person County
As a young adult, Jean wanted to get her father back to Japan, but jobs were few, so she went to work for the US government creating budgets to prepare for personnel being sent to Vietnam. That’s when she met her husband-to-be, Thomas Leslie “Tom” Andrews, who was serving in the US Army and was assigned to Okinawa.
After his marriage to Jean and the birth of their first daughter, Susie, Tom was called from Okinawa to Vietnam and had to bring his young family back to the United States. Home for Jean and Susie was Petersburg, VA, for a while, but when Tom retired from the military in 1968 as a lieutenant colonel, he looked for work as an engineer, and wanted to be in North Carolina near his aging mother. Tom was supposed to start work for a company called Anaconda Copper in Tarboro, when a call came in from Collins & Aikman. Originally thinking he would be based in Charlotte, Tom took the job and ended up as division engineer in Roxboro, where the Andrews’ second daughter, Nicole, was born in 1970.
A Growing Commitment
Through Tom’s work and the family’s church membership at Long Memorial United Methodist Church, the Andrews were quickly welcomed into the community. Many of the couple’s friends were engaged in civic organizations and some encouraged them to become involved in local politics.
Jean served on the Board of Elections and worked part-time for the Person County Council on Aging. In 1981, she was recruited by family friend and president of then- Piedmont Technical College, Dr. Ed Cox, to work at the college. The college is now known as Piedmont Community College.
Her time in that role led to Jean’s discovery of how important literacy was to a strong workforce and, therefore, to the economy. The majority of local jobs were supplied by the manufacturing sector, and it was a sector that was a major target for new recruitment.
Yet, many of those working in the local manufacturing facilities could not read or write at that time. An increasing shift to more automation meant the need for perpetual employee training. Illiteracy was a major roadblock for success in Person and many other rural counties.
Jean’s title at the technical college was Director of Resource Development and, as such, she spearheaded the development of a workforce literacy program and took it to the workers onsite at manufacturing facilities.
Touching two key aspects of community life with workforce training and education and the desire to support business and industry, Jean developed a passion for advancing the county, as well as a vision for its future.
During those years of Jean’s growing involvement, Person County’s economic development leaders were seeking to bring more manufacturing jobs to the area. Efforts included the development of multiple industrial parks and the formation of strategic planning committees that focused on education, workforce development, recreation, healthcare, and infrastructure – all critical components of a successful recruitment strategy.
Even prior to her election, Jean was engaged as a member of the planning committees, but she recognized that the county’s elected officials have the most authority over the direction of the county through setting budget priorities; funding schools and public safety; establishing public policy, and creating an environment that is inviting to business and industry.
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