The House That Jack Built:

The Many Friends of Hal Jackson

Hal Jackson was a radio pioneer who broke racial barriers on the airwaves. This exhibition features photographs of Hal with a variety of his peers through the years taken by different artists, many of whom were unknown, along with photos taken by Debi B Jackson.

The exhibition was installed by Kenia Akridge.

The Opening Reception will be held Wednesday, February 19 from 6-8 p.m. The reception is open to the public through reservation. To RSVP, please email Hcohen@bergenpac.org.

Hal Jackson was a pioneering radio and television personality who experienced many "firsts" that assisted in opening doors for other aspiring Black broadcasters, musicians and performers. His incredible achievements include:

• First Black radio announcer in network radio
• First Black host of a jazz show on the ABC network
• First Black play-by-play sports announcer on radio in the country
• First Black person to host an interracial network television show on NBC-TV
• Owned the first Black team to win the World Championship of Professional Basketball in 1943
• Executive Producer and Host of his Talented Teens International competition, which highlighted the intelligence, creativity and talents of young minority women and provided scholarships
• First Black person inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 1990
• First Black person inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1995

Perhaps his career and lifestyle can be summarized by the theme he chose for his radio programs – “It is nice to be important, but it is more important to be nice.”

For over 30 years New York City native Deborah Bolling Jackson was known as Debi B in the radio world where her voice was heard every Sunday on 107.5 WBLS co-hosting the WBLS Sunday Classics. She was also the first person to annually host a one-woman photography show at the Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. State Office Building in New York City. All proceeds from sales of Debi’s photography is donated to the Youth Development Foundation, Inc. (YDF) of which she is the CEO and President. For 47 years the YDF has awarded over $2 million in scholarships to young women from around the world through the Hal Jackson’s Talented Teens International  scholarship program.