Kenneth Terry Jackson (born 1939) is a
professor emeritus
''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...
of
history
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
and
social sciences
Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of so ...
at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
. A frequent
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
guest, he is best known as an
urban historian and a preeminent authority on the
history of New York City
The written history of New York City began with the first European explorer, the Italian Giovanni da Verrazzano in 1524. European settlement began with the Dutch in 1608.
The "Sons of Liberty" campaigned against British authority in New York Ci ...
, where he lives on the
Upper West Side
The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper West ...
.
Biography
Jackson was born in
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...
in 1939. He earned his
B.A.
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...
in 1961 from
Memphis State University
}
The University of Memphis (UofM) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 22,000 students.
The university maintains the Herff College of Engineering ...
, where he was a member of the
Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity, and his
Ph.D.
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
in 1966 at the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...
. He served as an assistant professor for the
Air Force Institute of Technology
The Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) is a graduate school and provider of professional and continuing education for the United States Armed Forces and is part of the United States Air Force. It is in Ohio at Wright-Patterson Air For ...
at
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) is a United States Air Force base and census-designated place just east of Dayton, Ohio, in Greene and Montgomery counties. It includes both Wright and Patterson Fields, which were originally Wilbur Wr ...
from 1965 to 1968 and then joined the Columbia faculty as an assistant professor in 1968, earning his
tenure
Tenure is a category of academic appointment existing in some countries. A tenured post is an indefinite academic appointment that can be terminated only for cause or under extraordinary circumstances, such as financial exigency or program disco ...
by 1970.
Jackson's achievements as an author include ''
The Ku Klux Klan in the City, 1915–1930'' (1967), ''
Cities in American History'' (1972), ''
Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States'' (1985), and ''
The Encyclopedia of New York City
''The Encyclopedia of New York City'' is a reference book on New York City, New York. Edited by Columbia University history professor Kenneth T. Jackson, the book was first published in 1995 by the New-York Historical Society and Yale Univers ...
'' (1995), for which he served as the primary editor. ''Crabgrass Frontier'', a comprehensive study of the factors influencing suburban growth in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
is the preeminent source on the history of
American suburbanization. ''The Encyclopedia of New York City'' is a massive collection of entries and articles that encompass much of modern-day New York and the city's history. He earned a
Bancroft Prize
The Bancroft Prize is awarded each year by the trustees of Columbia University for books about diplomacy or the history of the Americas.
It was established in 1948, with a bequest from Frederic Bancroft, in his memory and that of his brother, ...
in 1986 for ''Crabgrass Frontier''.
Jackson has earned numerous distinctions as a professor at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, where he was the director of the
Herbert H. Lehman Center for American History and the
Jacques Barzun
Jacques Martin Barzun (; November 30, 1907 – October 25, 2012) was a French-American historian known for his studies of the history of ideas and cultural history. He wrote about a wide range of subjects, including baseball, mystery novels, and ...
Professor of History and Social Sciences. Jackson formerly taught a lecture class at the university on "The History of the City of New York." The course included numerous field trips, including walking tours, bus trips and an annual all-night bike ride led by Jackson from
Morningside Heights in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
to the
Promenade in Brooklyn. The all-night bike ride is in its 37th consecutive year, as of 2011, and has received coverage from media outlets such as ''
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
''.
Jackson has also served as president of the Urban History Association, the
Society of American Historians, the
Organization of American Historians, and the
New-York Historical Society
The New-York Historical Society is an American history museum and library in New York City, along Central Park West between 76th and 77th Streets, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The society was founded in 1804 as New York's first museum ...
.
Jackson was a prominent on camera presence in the 1999 film, ''
New York: A Documentary Film'', directed by
Ric Burns for
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
. Among his notable students are
Janice Min,
Rohit Aggarwala,
Jonathan Lemire, and
Suzy Shuster.
Selected works
*
* ''Cities in American History'' (1972)
* ''Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States'' (1985)
* ''Silent Cities: The Evolution of the American Cemetery'' (1990), with
Camilo Vergara
* ''
The Encyclopedia of New York City
''The Encyclopedia of New York City'' is a reference book on New York City, New York. Edited by Columbia University history professor Kenneth T. Jackson, the book was first published in 1995 by the New-York Historical Society and Yale Univers ...
'' (1995), (ed.)
* ''Empire City'' (2002), (ed.), with David Dunbar (ed.)
* ''
Robert Moses and the Modern City: The Transformation of New York'' (2007), (ed.), with Hilary Ballon (ed.)
References
External links
Kenneth T. Jackson bio-
New York State Writers Institute
The New York State Writers Institute is a literary organization based at the University at Albany in Albany, New York. It sponsors thAlbany Book Festival the Albany Film Festival, Visiting Writers Series, Classic Film Series, thTrolley online lite ...
PBS: Interview with Kenneth T. Jackson*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Kenneth T.
1939 births
People from Memphis, Tennessee
Living people
Columbia University faculty
Historians of New York City
Urban historians
Bancroft Prize winners
University of Memphis alumni
University of Chicago alumni