Samuel C. Jackson (1929-1982)

Born in Kansas City, Kansas, Mr. Jackson was a national leader of racial desegregation policies and practices. In 1965 he was appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson to serve as one of the five original members of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Four years later, he was appointed by President Richard M. Nixon to serve as General Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. During the 1970s, he left public service and joined a prominent Wall Street law firm. But in 1981, he returned to public service as an appointee of President Ronald Reagan to the Presidential Housing Commission.

A major Washington, D.C. powerbroker, Mr. Jackson acquired his leadership skills in Kansas. After graduating from Topeka High School, he attended Washburn University where he received his undergraduate degree in 1951 and law degree in 1954. While attending law school, he served as a clerk in the law office that represented the local plaintiffs in the Brown vs. Topeka Board of Education Supreme Court Case. In 1957, he returned to Topeka after completing his military service and began his law practice. He was also appointed to serve as a Deputy General Counsel of the Kansas Department of Welfare. Committed to the ideals of liberty and equality, Mr. Jackson was an active member of the NAACP. He served as president of the Topeka chapter of the NAACP, vice-president and legislative chairman of the Kansas NAACP State Conference, and several legal and executive positions in the regional and national NAACP.

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