A Jackson Portrait for Jamestown, 'A Magnet in the Room'

Robert Houghwout Jackson (1892-1954) was Solicitor General and Attorney General in the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court and chief American prosecutor at Nuremberg, but Jackson's values and outlook were anchored in western New York, where he grew up and then practiced law for twenty years before joining the New Deal. Jackson also had, throughout his adult life, particularly close ties to the city of Buffalo, the University of Buffalo and its School of Law. Today, Jackson's enduring significance is becoming increasingly visible due to notable efforts based in his home region and adult hometown of Jamestown, New York. In early 2001, the Robert H. Jackson Center was established in Jamestown - and on the web - to advance Jackson's legacy through educational programming, exhibitry and special events that connect his life and ideas to today's issues and challenges. This essay, based on remarks that were delivered at the July 2002 Jackson Center dedication of Justice Jackson's portrait, discusses his own participation in tribute and dedication events, his various portraits that are displayed in locations throughout the country, and the magnetic power of great people and their depictions. An image of the portrait of Jackson by painter Lurabel Long Colburn will be published alongside this essay.