Emory Jackson

As editor of the Birmingham World, Emory Jackson was a fearless and indefatigable champion for civil rights in Alabama. Through hundreds of front page stories and especially in his famous column, "The Tip-Off," Jackson railed against Jim Crow, championed the NAACP, encouraged interracial committees working against segregation, demanded an end to the poll tax and the white primary, rallied blacks to register to vote, chronicled the events of the explosive civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s, and repeatedly confronted Birmingham police commissioner "Bull" Conner with vivid accounts of brutality perpetrated by his officers.

Connor swore he would run Jackson out of town but wasn't equal to the task. Only a devastating illness could silence the respected editor at the age of 67.

Born in Buena Vista, Georgia, Jackson graduated from Morehouse College, served in the United States Army, and taught high school at Dothan and Birmingham before joining the Birmingham World in 1943. He was also a board member of the National Newspaper Publishers Association and was instrumental in the establishment of several Alabama NAACP chapters.

Jackson played a key role in encouraging the desegregation of The University of Alabama. Without his tireless efforts, Pollie Anne Myers and Autherine Lucy would not have had the support needed to prevail against the laws and customs of Alabama.

"Editor Emory Jackson devoted his life to writing, speaking, and working against discrimination and injustice," wrote Allen Woodrow Jones. "During the 34 years that he served as editor of the World, he was known as 'one of the most vigorous, persistent, and courageous advocates in the South for full civil rights for his people.' His voice provided the needed leadership for blacks in their struggle for equality and justice."