Luther Porter Jackson, Jr., a groundbreaking journalist and educator died on April 22 at age 83.  A resident of Hartsdale, NY, he was one of the first African-American journalists at the Newark (NJ) Evening News and later at the Washington Post where he worked until 1963.

After a stint at IBM in Armonk and a Russell Sage Fellowship at Rutgers University,  Luther moved on to the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism where he served as professor, mentor, confidant and friend to hundreds of young journalists until his retirement in 1992.

Born in Chicago on March 7, 1925, he graduated from Virginia State University and attended Black Mountain College in North Carolinabefore graduating from Columbia’s School of Journalism.  Luther served as a U. S. Marine Corps Sergeant in the Pacific Theater during World War II.  A member of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity, he married Nettie Lee of Petersburg in 1952.

A community activist wherever he lived, Luther followed closely in the footsteps of his parents: Luther Porter Jackson, head of the history department at Virginia State and Johnnella Frazer Jackson, assistant professor of music at Virginia State and organist at the Gillfield Baptist Church of Petersburg.  Both parents were civil rights activists.

A life member of the NAACP and a leader in the New York chapter of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, Luther also researched and wrote about historical black towns in the U. S. including Boley, Oklahoma and Mound Bayou, Mississippi.  He also shared with everyone his passions for education, history, community service, social justice, integrity and jazz (especially Duke Ellington).

He is survived by his wife Nettie, son Luther III, daughter-in-law Cecilia Deck, grandsons Alexander Lee and Martin Lee of San Jose, CA;  brothers Edward (Passaic, NJ) and John Tevis (NYC).  His parents, sister Laura Frances and son, Lee Frazer predeceased him.  

Visitation will be 9 a.m., Saturday, April 26, followed by a 10 a.m. funeral service at Lee’s Funeral Home, 160 Fisher Avenue, White Plains, NY.    

A graveside service will be at the Blandford Cemetery in Petersburg, VA.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to Virginia State University, Office of Development, P. O. Box 9027, Petersburg, VA 23806, memo line:  Luther Jackson Scholarship Fund, and/or Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, 2950 Broadway, NY, NY 10027, memo line: In Honor of Luther Jackson.