Richard Hammel Jackson (born February 15, 1936), is an American

musicologist Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some mu ...

and

music librarian Music librarianship is the area of librarianship that pertains to music collections and their development, cataloging, Preservation (library and archival science), preservation and maintenance, as well as Reference#Libraries, reference issues connec ...

. He specializes in 19th and early 20th century American classical and popular music.

Life and career

Born in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, Jackson studied the organ at

Loyola University New Orleans Loyola University New Orleans is a Private university, private Jesuit university in New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana. Originally established as Loyola College in 1904, the institution was chartered as a university in 1912. It bears the name o ...

where he graduated with a

Bachelor of Music Bachelor of Music (BM or BMus) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. In the United States, it is a professional degree, and the majority of work consists of prescr ...

in 1958. He began his career as a librarian soon after, working for the

New Orleans Public Library The New Orleans Public Library (NOPL) is the public library service of the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. History The system began in 1895 in the Fisk Free and Public Library in a building on Lafayette Square. Abijah Fisk was a ...

in 1958–1959. He then pursued graduate studies in musicology at

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private university, private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into ...

; there earning his MA in 1962. While a student, he worked for the Maxwell Music Library at Newcomb College, Tulane University from 1959 to 1962. Jackson moved to New York and worked as a librarian for

The New School for Social Research The New School for Social Research (NSSR) is a graduate-level educational institution that is one of the divisions of The New School in New York City, United States. The university was founded in 1919 as a home for progressive era thinkers. NSSR ...

from 1962 to 1965. He studied library science at the

Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York. It has a satellite campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The school was ...

in Brooklynn where he graduated with a Master of Science in Library Science in 1968. From 1965 to 1991 Jackson served as the head of the Americana Collection in the music division of the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress ...

. During his tenure he prepared several notable exhibitions on a variety of subjects, including exhibitions on the

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...

and on composers

Aaron Copland Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later a conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as "the Dean of American Com ...

Elliott Carter Elliott Cook Carter Jr. (December 11, 1908 – November 5, 2012) was an American modernist composer. One of the most respected composers of the second half of the 20th century, he combined elements of European modernism and American "ultra- ...

, and

Louis Moreau Gottschalk Louis Moreau Gottschalk (May 8, 1829 – December 18, 1869) was an American composer and pianist, best known as a virtuoso performer of his own romantic piano works. He spent most of his working career outside the United States. Life and car ...

. His work at the New York Public Library intersected with his interests and publications in the area of musicology. He was the editor of a 1973 publication of the collected works of Gottschalk's piano music, and a year earlier had served as an editorial consultant for the collected piano works of

Scott Joplin Scott Joplin ( 1868 – April 1, 1917) was an American composer and pianist. Because of the fame achieved for his ragtime compositions, he was dubbed the "King of Ragtime." During his career, he wrote over 40 original ragtime pieces, one ra ...

. He was also the editor of a 1974 collection of

Stephen Foster Stephen Collins Foster (July 4, 1826January 13, 1864), known also as "the father of American music", was an American composer known primarily for his parlour music, parlour and Minstrel show, minstrel music during the Romantic music, Romantic ...

’s songs. He was the author of the anthology ''Popular Songs of 19th-Century America'' (1976), and co-edited ''The Little Book of Louis Moreau Gottschalk'' (1976). From 1967 to 1991 he was the associate editor of the journal ''American Choral Review''. His other published works included multiple journal articles and two bibliographies of American music (1973, 1977). Jackson lives in retirement in Louisiana.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Richard 1936 births Living people American musicologists Loyola University New Orleans alumni New York Public Library people People from New Orleans Pratt Institute alumni Tulane University alumni