Harold Baron Jackson (3 November 1915 – 23 May 2012) was an American

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music f ...

and radio personality who broke a number of color barriers in American radio broadcasting.

Biography

Early years

Jackson was born in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

, the fifth child of Eugene and Laura Jackson; his father was a tailor. His parents died when he was young, and he grew up in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, where he was raised by relatives; he attended

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity" and accredited by the Middle States Commissi ...

, but did not get a degree.

Career

Jackson began his career as a sportswriter, covering local and national black sporting events for the ''Washington DC Afro-American''. In the 1940s, he became one of the first

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

radio sports announcers, broadcasting Howard's home

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

games and the Homestead Grays

Negro league baseball The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...

games. In 1940, he became the first African American host at WINX in Washington with '' The Bronze Review'', a nightly interview program. He later hosted ''The House That Jack Built'', a program of

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

and

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

on three Washington-Baltimore radio stations (WINX, WANN, and WOOK), Jackson first moved to New York City in November 1949, when he was hired by station WLIB, which wanted to expand the amount of black programming it offered. By 1954, he became the first radio personality to broadcast three daily shows on three different New York stations. Four million listeners tuned in nightly to hear Jackson's mix of music and conversations with jazz and show business celebrities. In 1971, Jackson and

Percy Sutton Percy Ellis Sutton (November 24, 1920 – December 26, 2009) was an American political and business leader. An activist in the Civil Rights Movement and lawyer, he was also a Freedom Rider and the legal representative for Malcolm X. He was ...

, a former Manhattan borough president, co-founded the Inner City Broadcasting Corporation (ICBC), which acquired

WLIB WLIB (1190 AM) is an urban contemporary gospel radio station licensed to New York City. WLIB is owned by Emmis Communications, along with sister stations WBLS (107.5 FM) and WQHT (97.1 FM). The three stations share studios in the Hudson Square n ...

— becoming the first African-American owned-and-operated station in New York. The following year, ICBC acquired WLIB-FM, changing its call letters to

WBLS WBLS (107.5 MHz) is an urban adult contemporary formatted FM radio station, licensed to New York City. It is currently owned by Mediaco Holding and operated by Emmis Communications under a shared services agreement, along with sister stations ...

("the total Black experience in Sound"). As of the late 2000s ICBC, of which Jackson was group chairman, owns and operates stations in New York; San Francisco; Philadelphia; Pittsburgh; Fort Lauderdale; Columbia, South Carolina; and Jackson, Mississippi. The flagship station was hampered by its frequency, sharing it with

WOWO WOWO (1190 AM) – branded News/Talk WOWO 1190 AM 107.5 FM – is a commercial talk radio station licensed to Fort Wayne, Indiana, serving primarily the Fort Wayne metropolitan area. Currently owned by Federated Media via licensee Pathfinder ...

of Fort Wayne, Indiana. After being turned down by the

FCC The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...

to change frequencies, Inner City Broadcasting, in an industry unprecedented move, purchased WOWO solely to reduce its output and upped the power of the NYC transmitters to 50,000 watts daytime/30,000 watts night, and subsequently be heard full-time across the entire New York market. As of February 2011, nonagenarian Jackson continued to host ''Sunday Classics'' on WBLS each Sunday from 3 to 6 p.m., with Clay Berry and Deborah Bolling Jackson, known professionally as Debi B., his wife. of 25 years. In 1990, Hal Jackson was the first minority inducted into the National Association of Broadcaster's Hall of Fame. In 1995, he became the first African-American inducted into the

National Radio Hall of Fame The Radio Hall of Fame, formerly the National Radio Hall of Fame, is an American organization created by the Emerson Radio Corporation in 1988. Three years later, Bruce DuMont, founder, president, and CEO of the Museum of Broadcast Communicatio ...

."The Legendary Hal Jackson: Hal Jackson's Sunday Classics With Debi B. & Clay Berry"

.com, n.d
WebCitation archive
In 2001 the Broadcast and Cable Hall of Fame inducted Jackson. For over 11 years he hosted a radio program rated No. 1 by

Arbitron Nielsen Audio (formerly Arbitron) is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio broadcasting audiences. It was founded as the American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by mergin ...

in its time slot on 107.5 WBLS in New York, the ''Hal Jackson Sunday Morning Classics''. He was given a Pioneer Award by the

Rhythm and Blues Foundation The Rhythm and Blues Foundation is an independent American nonprofit organization dedicated to the historical and cultural preservation of rhythm and blues music. The idea for the foundation came in 1987 during discussions about royalties with en ...

in 2003. In October 2010 he was named a "Giant in Broadcasting" by the Library of American Broadcasting. Jackson was also inducted into the ''Guinness Book of World Records'' as being the oldest broadcaster, with a record 73-year career. Jackson was the founder of the Hal Jackson Talented Teens International Competition.

Death

Jackson died of natural causes in New York City on 23 May 2012, with his wife and three children at his bedside at the age of 96. He often signed off the air with the motto; reminding listeners, "It's nice to be important, but it's important to be nice."

Awards

Candace Award The Candace Award is an award that was given from 1982 to 1992 by the National Coalition of 100 Black Women (NCBW) to "Black role models of uncommon distinction who have set a standard of excellence for young people of all races". Kandake, Candace ...

National Coalition of 100 Black Women The National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Inc. (NCBW) is a non-profit volunteer organization for African American women. Its members address common issues in their communities, families and personal lives, promoting gender and racial equity. His ...

, 1992 1990, Hal Jackson was honored with being the first Black (or minority) inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame 1995, Hal Jackson was the first Black inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame at the Museum of Broadcast Communications

References

Sources

* James Haskins, ''Hal Jackson The House that Jack Built – My life as a trailblazer in broadcasting and entertainment'', Ed. Amistad; New York 2001 * Evangelos Andreou, ''Hal Jackson – Wow!!! 25th Anniversary''. "EI" Magazine of European Art Center (EUARCE) of Greece, Issue 10, 1995 p. 13, 40–41

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Hal 1915 births 2012 deaths African-American journalists Journalists from New York City African-American radio personalities American radio DJs Howard University alumni Musicians from Charleston, South Carolina Musicians from Washington, D.C. Radio personalities from New York City Radio and television announcers 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people