Emory Overton Jackson

Emory Overton Jackson was born on September 8, 1908 in Buena Vista, Georgia to Will Burt and Lovie Jones Jackson. E. O. Jackson and his seven siblings were raised in the middle-class Birmingham enclave of Enon Ridge, located on the west side of town near Birmingham-Southern College. He attended Industrial High School, which was later named A. H. Parker High. In 1928 he enrolled in Atlanta’s Morehouse College, where he served as President of the student government and editor of the newspaper, the Maroon Tiger. , After graduating in 1932, E. O. Jackson taught English and coached basketball at Carver High School in Dothan, Alabama, and briefly at Westfield High School in Birmingham before joining the Birmingham World Newspaper in 1934. , Early in life, E. O. Jackson developed a strong sense and passion for Truth, Justice, Freedom and Equality. He did not believe or absorb the Stereotypical Myths of Racial Superiority and Inferiority. He believed the Bible and the U.S. Constitution that declared “All men are created equal”, and that all men are equal before God and the Law. , In his long tenure as Editor of the Birmingham World from 1940 to 1975, E. O. Jackson was totally engaged in the Fight for Rights and Freedom, and fought and won many auspicious and historic battles. In the final analysis, E. O. Jackson and others of his generation such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Thurgood Marshall, Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth, Attorney Arthur Shores, and many others, paid the price and paved the way for our progress and for the eventual realization of the full freedoms guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. , E. O. Jackson never retired. He continued to edit the Birmingham World until September 10, 1975, when he died at the age of 67. He devoted his life, risked his safety, and gave up a normal family life in order to change segregation, discrimination and all manners of injustice. He dedicated his life to the Mission of Achieving Freedom, Equality, Rights and Justice for people of all races, creeds and colors.