Hal Jackson
Hal Jackson | |
---|---|
Born | Harold Baron Jackson November 3, 1915 |
Died | May 23, 2012 New York, New York, USA | (aged 96)
Career | |
Show | Sunday Classics |
Station | WBLS - New York KGFJ/ KUTE - Los Angeles |
Country | United States |
Previous show(s) | The Bronze Review WINX-Washington, D.C. The House That Jack Built WOOK-Washington, D.C. |
Harold Baron "Hal" Jackson (November 3, 1914 – May 23, 2012) was an American disc jockey and radio personality who broke a number of color barriers in American radio broadcasting.
Biography
Early years
Jackson was born in Charleston, South Carolina and grew up in Washington, D.C. where he was educated at Howard University.
Career
Jackson began his broadcasting career as the first African-American radio sports announcer, broadcasting Howard’s home baseball games and local Negro league baseball games.
In 1939, he became the first African American host at WINX/Washington with The Bronze Review, a nightly interview program. He later hosted talk show, a program of jazz and blues on WOOK-TV.[1]
Jackson moved to New York City in 1954 and 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.[2] In 1971, Jackson and Percy Sutton, a former Manhattan borough president, co-founded the Inner City Broadcasting Corporation (ICBC), which acquired WLIB — becoming the first African-American owned-and-operated station in New York.[3][4] The following year, ICBC acquired WLIB-FM, changing its call letters to WBLS ("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.[5] The flagship station was hampered by its frequency, sharing it with WOWO of Fort Wayne, IN. After being turned down by the FCC to change frequencies, Inner City Broadcasting, in an industry un-precedented 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.,[6] with Clay Berry and Deborah Bolling Jackson, known professionally as Debi B., his wife[7] of 25 years.[8]
In 1990, Hal Jackson was the first minority inducted into the National Association of Broadcaster's Hall of Fame.[9] In 1995, he became the first African-American inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame.[6] He was given a Pioneer Award by the Rhythm and Blues Foundation in 2003. In October 2010 he was named a "Giant in Broadcasting" by the Library of American Broadcasting.[10] Jackson was also inducted into the Guinness Book of World Records as being the oldest broadcaster with a record 73 year-career.[11]
Jackson was the founder of the Hal Jackson Talented Teens International Competition.[12]
Death
Jackson died of natural causes in New York City on May 23, 2012 with his three children and wife at his bed side at the age of 96.[13][14]
Awards
See also
- African American firsts
- Frankie Crocker
- Imhotep Gary Byrd
- Kool DJ Red Alert
- Bob Perkins (radio)
- Vaughn Harper
References
- ^ By admin ·. "Remembering Hal Jackson, the Godfather of Black Radio". Soul Train. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ http://www.behindthemicandontheset.com/news.xml
- ^ "New York Radio Guide - Station Information for WLIB-AM". Nyradioguide.com. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
- ^ Jerry Barmash (24 May 2012). "Hal Jackson, Black Radio Legend, Dies at 96 | FishbowlNY". Adweek.com. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
- ^ "Radio-History.com | New York City AM Radio History - Page 4". Angelfire.com. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
- ^ a b "The Legendary Hal Jackson: Hal Jackson's Sunday Classics With Debi B. & Clay Berry", WBLS.com, n.d. WebCitaion archive.
- ^ "Debi B.", WBLS.com. WebCitation archive.
- ^ 07:00pm. "debib". Wbls.com. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/25/nyregion/hal-jackson-pioneer-in-radio-and-racial-progress-dies-at-96.html?_r=0
- ^ "Honor Roll – October 15th ♦ Luncheon ♦ Gotham Hall". Giantsofbroadcasting.com. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
- ^ "Audrey's Whirl: Family & Friends Bid Farewell to Black Radio Trailblazer - Harold 'Hal' B. Jackson". EURweb. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
- ^ Hal Jackson Talented Teens International Scholarship Competition
- ^ "Hal Jackson, pioneer on black radio, dies at 97". NY Daily News. 29 January 2012. Retrieved 24 May 2012.
- ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20120527060410/http://statenisland.ny1.com/content/ny1_living/entertainment/161801/longtime-dj-hal-jackson-dies-at-96. Archived from the original on 27 May 2012. Retrieved 24 May 2012.
{{cite web}}
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suggested) (help) - ^ "Camille Cosby, Kathleen Battle Win Candace Awards". Jet. 82 (13): 16–17. 20 July 1992.
External links
- "Hal Jackson, 96, New York Broadcaster Who Broke Racial Barriers in Radio, Dies," by Mel Watkins, The New York Times, May 24, 2012
- Hal Jackson (8 November 2008). "Still On The Air After 69 Years". Weekend Edition Saturday (Interview: audio). Interviewed by Scott Simon. NPR. Retrieved 7 November 2008.
- ^ Harris M. Lentz III (24 April 2013). Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2012. McFarland. pp. 140–. ISBN 978-0-7864-7063-1.
- Use dmy dates from December 2010
- 1914 births
- 2012 deaths
- African-American journalists
- African-American radio personalities
- American radio DJs
- National Radio Hall of Fame inductees
- Howard University alumni
- People from Charleston, South Carolina
- Musicians from Washington, D.C.
- Radio personalities from New York City
- Radio and television announcers