Rev. J. H. Jackson visual materials
Descriptive Summary
- Repository
-
Chicago History Museum
Research Center1601 North Clark StreetChicago, IL 60614-6038
- Creator
- Joseph Harrison Jackson, National Baptist Convention of the United States of America
- Bib number
- 00235510
- Title
- Rev. J. H. Jackson visual materials
- Dates
- 1920-1986
- Quantity
- 3.5 linear feet, including approximately 600 b&w photographs and 400 color photographs (7 boxes, 3 folders)
- Call number
- 2009.0056 PPL
- Call number
- 2009.0056 PCLF
- Call number
- 2009.0056 PSM
- Call number
- PCP-275
- Language
- English
Restriction(s)
Advance appointment required to view color material in cold storage or negatives in cool storage; please email research@chicagohistory.org.
Terms governing use
Copyright may be retained by the creators of items, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law, unless otherwise noted.
Provenance statement
Gift of the estate of Kenny J. Williams (2009.0056).
Please cite this collection as
Rev. J. H. Jackson visual materials (Chicago History Museum) plus a detailed description, date, and box/folder number of a specific item.
Collection Summary
The Rev. J. H. Jackson visual materials contains black and white and color photographs and negatives from ca. 1920 until 1986. It contains special events Jackson attended and spoke at, including several of the Annual National Baptist Conventions and anniversary celebrations as pastor of Olivet Baptist Church, as well as Jackson with public figures such as former president Lyndon B. Johnson and former Chicago mayor Richard J. Daley. It also includes images of Rev. Jackson’s travels, family life, and small gatherings.
Biographical/historical note
Reverend Joseph Harrison Jackson was born in Mississippi in 1900, where he grew up before graduating from Jackson State University. Jackson went on to graduate school at Creighton University for education and Colgate-Rochester Divinity School for theology, later completing further graduate studies at the University of Chicago. When he moved north to Chicago, Jackson joined Olivet Baptist Church, a historic Black church in the Bronzeville community on the south side of Chicago that once boasted a 20,000-member congregation, then the largest protestant church in the world. The influx of Black people into Chicago during the Great Migration caused this great increase of the Olivet community and the church, in turn, provided many resources that helped Black people settle into the city. As head pastor of Olivet starting in 1941, Jackson promoted the church’s principles of fair education and housing for Black people in Chicago. The J. H. Jackson Education Building opened in 1962 and housed a fully-staffed daycare center until its closing in the late 1980s. Jackson had international influence and traveled extensively to different countries across the globe, namely Russia, England, and several countries in the Middle East. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Jackson also served on the Central Committee of World Council of Churches.
Jackson was president of the National Baptist Convention for 30 years and had a significant impact on the convention’s goals and tactics to achieve social change for the Black community in the United States. Although Jackson and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. agreed on the fundamental belief that Black people in the U.S. need to achieve social and economic change, they disagreed greatly on how to do so. While King, also a member of the National Baptist Convention, promoted the tactic of civil disobedience as a means of liberation, Jackson adamantly rejected this praxis and encouraged voting to change oppressive, racist systems from within. Eventually, the disagreement affected the NBC in its entirety and led to the split between the National Baptist Convention into a separate Progressive National Baptist Convention in 1961. Jackson continued his presidency of the NBC as a conservative civil rights leader until his death in 1990, caused by illness. He was survived by his wife, Maude Thelma Jackson, and his daughter, Dr. Kenny Jackson Williams, both since deceased.
Separated material
Separated materials at the Chicago History Museum, Research Center, includes the Reverend J. H. Jackson papers, part 1 and part 2, which also contain some photographic materials.
Processing Note
The Rev. J. H. Jackson collection of visual materials was processed with support from the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture's Robert Frederick Smith Fund.
Indexed Terms
- Jackson, J. H. (Joseph Harrison), 1900-1990--Archives
- Daley, Richard J, 1902-1976
- Jackson, Maude Thelma.
- Nixon, Richard M. (Richard Milhous), 1913-1994
- Williams, Kenny J. (Kenny Jackson), 1927-2003.
- National Baptist Convention of the United States of America--Archives
- Olivet Baptist Church (Chicago, Ill.)--Clergy
- African American Baptists--United States--20th century
- African American clergy--Illinois--Chicago--20th century
- African Americans--20th century
- African Americans--Religion--20th century
- Chicago (Ill.)--Race relations--20th century
- Chicago (Ill.)--Religious life and customs--20th century
- South Side (Chicago, Ill.)
- Photographic prints
- Photographic prints -- Color
- Film negatives
Organization and Arrangement of Collection
The collection is arranged in two series.
Events, circa 1945-1979 (boxes 1-5)
This series contains photographs of significant events Jackson attended and spoke at, including several annual National Baptist Conventions and anniversary celebrations at Olivet Baptist Church, as well as photographs of Jackson with Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard J. Daley.
Personal, circa 1920-1986 (boxes 6-7)
This series contains photographs of Jackson's personal life, including holidays, graduation celebrations, vacations, and portraits.
Detailed list of contents of the collection
- Title
- Events
- Dates
- 1945-1955
- Physical Location
- 2009.0056 PPL
- Title
- Events
- Dates
- 1956-1965
- Physical Location
- 2009.0056 PPL
- Title
- Events
- Dates
- 1966-1981
- Physical Location
- 2009.0056 PPL
- Title
- Events
- Dates
- 1962-1972
- Physical Location
- PCP-275
Advance appointment needed to view color material in cold storage.
- Title
- Events
- Dates
- 1973-1979
- Physical Location
- 2009.0056 PPL
- Title
- Events
- Dates
- 1945
- Physical Location
- 2009.0056 PSM
- Title
- Events
- Dates
- undated
- Physical Location
- 2009.0056 PCLF
Advance appointment needed to view color material in cold storage.
- Title
- Events
- Dates
- undated-1961
- Physical Location
- 2009.0056 PCLF
- Size
- black and white negatives
Advance appointment needed to view color material in cold storage.
- Title
- Personal
- Dates
- undated-1976
- Physical Location
- PCP-275
Advance appointment needed to view color material in cold storage.
- Title
- Personal
- Dates
- undated-1986
- Physical Location
- 2009.0056 PPL
- Title
- Personal
- Dates
- undated
- Physical Location
- 2009.0056 PCLF
Advance appointment needed to view color material in cold storage.