Ordained a Baptist minister in 1968, he founded Operation PUSH (People United to Save Humanity) in 1971.
In 1983 he led a voter-registration drive in Chicago that helped elect the city’s first African American mayor,
Harold Washington. In 1984 and 1988 Jackson entered the Demo¬ cratic presidential primary, becom¬ ing the first African American man to make a serious bid for the U.S. presidency; he received 6.7 million votes in 1988. In 1989 he moved to Washington, D.C. and was elected the city’s unpaid “statehood senator” to lobby Congress for statehood. From the late 1970s Jackson gained wide attention through his attempts to mediate in various international disputes, including in the Middle East. In the late 1990s he faced allegations of financial misconduct, and in 2001 he admit¬ ted fathering a child out of wedlock.
Jackson, Joe in full Joseph Jefferson Jackson known as Sho¬ eless Joe Jackson (b. July 16, 1888, Greenville, S.C., U.S.—d. Dec. 6, 1951, Greenville) U.S. baseball player. Jackson started his career in 1908 and became an outfielder with the Chicago White Sox. An outstand¬ ing hitter, his career batting average of .356 is the third-highest (after Ty Cobb and Rogers Hornsby) in baseball history. Jackson was involved in the 1919 Black Sox scandal; though acquitted in 1921, he was banned from baseball for life by baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis.
Jackson, John Hughlings (b. April 4, 1835, Green Hammerton, Yorkshire, Eng.—d. Oct. 7, 1911, London) British neurologist. He showed that most right-handed persons with aphasia had disease on the left side of the brain, confirming Paul Broca’s findings. In 1863 he discovered Jacksonian epilepsy (spasms progressing through the body), tracing it to motor region damage. Electroencephalography has confirmed his 1873 definition of epilepsy as “a sudden, excessive, and rapid discharge” of electricity by brain cells.
Jackson, Mahalia (b. Oct. 26, 1911, New Orleans, La., U.S.—d. Jan. 27, 1972, Evergreen Park, Ill.) U.S. gospel music singer. As a child, Jack- son sang in the choir of the New Orleans church where her father preached. She learned sacred songs but was also exposed to blues record¬ ings by Bessie Smith and Ida Cox. In Chicago she worked at odd jobs while singing with a touring gospel quintet, and she opened several small businesses. Her warm, powerful voice first came to wide public atten¬ tion in the 1930s, when she partici¬ pated in a cross-country tour singing songs such as “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands.” Closely asso¬ ciated with Thomas A. Dorsey, she sang many of his songs. “Move on up a Little Higher” (1948) sold more than a million copies, and she became one of the most popular singers of the 1950s and ’60s. She first appeared at Carnegie Hall in 1950. Active in the civil rights move¬ ment from 1955, she sang at the epochal 1963 civil rights march on Washington.
Jackson, Michael (Joseph) (b. Aug. 29, 1958, Gary, Ind., U.S.) U.S. singer and songwriter. The nine-year-old Jackson became the lead singer of The Jackson Five, a family group formed by his father. Their hits on the Motown label included “I Want You Back” and “ABC.” Though Michael remained a member of the group until 1984, he began recording under his own name in 1971. His album Off the Wall (1979) sold millions; his next solo album, Thriller (1982), sold more than 40 million copies, becoming the best-selling album in history. The emerging format of the music video was an important aspect of Jackson’s work; his videos for “Beat It” and “Billie Jean” (both 1983) featured his highly influential dancing style (notably his trademark “moonwalk”). He later released the albums Bad (1987), Dangerous (1991), and HIStory (1995). Despite his many efforts to speak out on social issues, Jackson’s eccentric, secluded lifestyle stirred controversy in the early 1990s. His reputation was seri¬ ously damaged in 1993 when he was accused of child molestation by a 13-year-old boy. Several of his siblings, notably his sister Janet (b. 1966), have also enjoyed solo success.
Jackson, Reggie in full Reginald Martinez Jackson (b. May
18, 1946, Wyncote, Pa., U.S.) U.S. baseball player. Jackson excelled in track, football, and baseball in high school. In the major leagues, batting and throwing left-handed and playing outfield, he helped three teams (Oakland Athletics, 1968-75; New York Yankees, 1976-81; California Angels, 1982-87) win five World Series, six pennant races, and 10 divi¬ sional play-offs. Noted for his home-run hitting, he was nicknamed “Mr. October” for his reliable prowess in play-off and World Series games. He hit a career total of 563 home runs, placing him in the top ten of all-time home-run hitters.
Jackson, Robert H(oughwout) (b. Feb. 13, 1892, Spring Creek, Pa., U.S.—d. Oct. 9, 1954, Washington, D.C.) U.S. jurist. He pleaded his
Jesse Jackson, 1988.
© DENNIS BRACK/BLACK STAR
Mahalia Jackson, 1961.
THE BETTMANN ARCHIVE
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Jackson, S. ► Jacobs I 973
first case while still a minor and was a lawyer by age 21. He became cor¬ poration counsel for Jamestown, N.Y. As general counsel for the U.S. Bureau of Internal Revenue (1934), he successfully prosecuted Andrew W. Mellon for income-tax evasion. He served as U.S. solicitor general (1938— 39) and attorney general (1940-41). In 1941 he was appointed by Pres. Franklin Roosevelt to the U.S. Supreme Court, where he served until 1954. He infused his well-worded opinions with a blend of liberalism and nation¬ alism. In 1945—46 he served as chief U.S. prosecutor in the NOrnberg trials.
Jackson, Shirley (Hardie) (b. Dec. 14, 1919, San Francisco, Calif., U.S.—d. Aug. 8, 1965, North Bennington, Vt.) U.S. novelist and short- story writer. She is best known for her story “The Lottery” (1948), a chill¬ ing tale that provoked outrage when first published, and The Haunting of Hill House (1959; film, 1963, 1999). These and her other five novels, including We Have Always Lived in the Castle (1962), confirmed her reputation as a master of gothic horror and psychological suspense.
Jackson, Stonewall orig. Thomas Jonathan Jackson (b. Jan. 21, 1824, Clarksburg, Va., U.S.—d. May 10, 1863, Guinea Station, Va.) U.S. and Confederate army officer. Despite little formal education, he secured an appointment to West Point. He served with distinction in the Mexican War. At the start of the American Civil War, he organized Virginia volunteers into an effective brigade. At the first Battle of Bull Run, he sta¬ tioned his brigade in a strong line and withstood a Union assault, a feat that earned him a promotion to major general and the nickname “Stone¬ wall.” In 1862 he won campaigns in the Shenandoah Valley and later in the Seven Days’ Battles. Robert E. Lee used Jackson’s troops to encircle the Union forces to win the second Battle of Bull Run, and Jackson assisted Lee at Antietam and Fredericksburg. In April 1863, while mov¬ ing his troops around the flank of the Union army at Chancellorsville, he was accidentally shot and mortally wounded by his own men.
Jackson, William Henry (b. April 4, 1843, Keesville, N.Y., U.S.—d. June 30, 1942, New York, N.Y.) U.S. photographer. As a boy, he worked for a photographic studio in Troy, N.Y. After the American Civil War he went west and opened a studio in Omaha. He was the official photogra¬ pher for the U.S. Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories (1870-78), and his photographs were instrumental in the establishment of Yellowstone National Park.
Jacksonville City (pop., 2000: 735,617), northeastern Florida, U.S. It is the site of Florida’s first European (French Huguenot) settlement (1564). Named for Andrew Jackson, it was laid out in 1822 and incorpo¬ rated in 1832. It was largely destroyed by fire in 1901. In 1968 it was consolidated with most of Duval county; it covers 841 sq mi (2,178 sq km), making it one of the largest U.S. cities in terms of land area. A deep¬ water port with major shipyards, it is Florida’s chief transportation and commercial centre. It is the site of Jacksonville University, the Univer¬ sity of North Florida, and Jones College.