HAL JACKSON

Hal Jackson was born on November 3, 1915. He grew up in Washington, D.C. and attended Howard University. Jackson began his broadcasting career by becoming the first African-American radio sports announcer, broadcasting Howard’s home baseball games and local American Negro Baseball League games over WOOK/Washington.

In 1939, Jackson broke the color line at WINX/Washington by hosting The Bronze Review, a nightly interview program. Before long, Hal had agreed to host called The House That Jack Built, a program of jazz and blues on WOOK. At one point in the 1940s, Jackson was hosting four different daily programs for four different Washington-area stations.

Jackson moved to New York 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.

In 1971 Jackson was part of a group that acquired WLIB-AM, the first African-American owned and operated station in New York. Today, Jackson serves on the Board of Directors at Inner City Broadcasting and hosts Sunday Classics, an eclectic musical program.

Hal Jackson was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1995.

Reproduction of the images on this page is strictly prohibited.