Robert R. Jackson

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Robert R. Jackson (September 1, 1870 in Malta, Illinois - June 12, 1942) was a state legislator in Illinois as well as a baseball team founder, baseball league commissioner, and Chicago alderman. [1] [2] [3] Jackson was educated in the Chicago public school system until leaving school to care for family after the eighth grade. [2] Prior to his tenure in the legislature, he worked as a newspaper salesman, postal service employee, elevator operator and baseball team owner. He was a Republican

Contents

Career

Jackson's twenty-one year tenure at the Chicago Postal System included twelve years as assistant superintendent at Armour station, at the time the highest role held by a Black man in the Chicago postal system. [3] Jackson was also a veteran of the Spanish-American War when his National Guard regiment, Illinois' Eighth was activated to Cuba. [3]

In 1910, Jackson cofounded with Beauregard F. Mosely the Leland Giants, Chicago's first African-American baseball team. He also served a two-year term as Commissioner of the Negro American League. [1] When Jackson left the postal system to return to the print business, his Fraternal Press was believed to be the largest printing business owned by a Black person. [4]

Jackson was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives in 1912; he was seated just a short time before the legislature adjourned sine die. Speaker William Michael McKinley appointed Jackson to roles on a number of committees including federal relations, military affairs, and more. [3] Jackson was re-elected in 1914 and 1916 and was a part of Illinois' first state film censorship law. [5] [4] He served as an alderman in Chicago City Council for the Second and Third Wards from 1918-1939 after his time as a state legislator was term limited. [4] [2]

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References

  1. 1 2 Robert R. Jackson. American national biography online. Oxford University Press. 2000. OCLC   1003238948 . Retrieved 2022-03-08.
  2. 1 2 3 Williams, Erma Brooks (2008). Political Empowerment of Illinois' African-American State Lawmakers from 1877 to 2005. University Press of America. p. 6. ISBN   978-0-7618-4018-3.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "The Broad Ax 5 August 1916 — Illinois Digital Newspaper Collections". idnc.library.illinois.edu.
  4. 1 2 3 "Major Robert R. Jackson; Residence of Major and Mrs. Jackson; 3366 South Park Avenue". NYPL Digital Collections. Retrieved 2022-03-08.
  5. Scott, Ellen C. (2012). "Black "Censor," White Liberties: Civil Rights and Illinois's 1917 Film Law". American Quarterly. 64 (2): 219–247. doi:10.1353/aq.2012.0019. ISSN   0003-0678. JSTOR   23273515. S2CID   143939578.