Description of Content: The Honorable Gary M. Jackson’s family has a long history in Colorado, dating back to the 1920s when his great-grandfather, William Pitts, left segregated Missouri for a new life in Denver. Upon seeing an advertisement for a Black “mecca” in the mountains, Pitts purchased a plot and built a cabin – later named “Zephyr View” – in Lincoln Hills. Judge Jackson begins his oral history by discussing his family’s almost 100-year-long connection to Zephyr View and Lincoln Hills, culminating in its 2020 placement on the Colorado State Register of Historic Properties.
In the next segment of this oral history, Judge Jackson discusses his childhood education and social life. He attended Steck Elementary and George Washington High School, predominantly white schools, but his parents made sacrifices for their children to attend them because they believed those schools would offer better opportunities. Being the “only Black Person in the room” would continue from his childhood schooling throughout his career.
Judge Jackson then discusses his legal training at the University of Colorado – Boulder law school and his prestigious legal career. He began with the Denver District Attorney’s office, moved to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, into private practice in which he owned his own firm, and to cap his career, became a Denver County Court judge. His choice to be a County Court Justice, a position where he judged misdemeanors and therefore encountered high numbers of people daily, reflects his personal desire to serve as a role model to Black Denverites.
Another aspect of Jackson’s mission is to support and encourage other minorities in the legal profession. This work began very early in his career when he, along with six other attorneys, founded the Sam Cary Bar Association in 1971, a “self-help group to instill professionalism and serve as a vehicle for the exchange of ideas among African-American lawyers.” While in private practice, Jackson hired, promoted, and supported multiple lawyers who would go on to start their own firms and/or found their own minority associations in Colorado.
In the second sitting of his oral history, Judge Jackson shares the stories and achievements of his parents, Nancelia Elizabeth Scott-Jackson and Floyd Jackson, Jr., and his wife Regina Lee Jackson, as well as how all three have influenced his life.
Physical description: 2 digital files in both audio and video format, collected via Zoom. Length: 2 hours, 12 minutes (part one, June 1, 2021), 52 minutes (part two, June 3, 2021). Available on SoundCloud (audio only, edited into a single 3 hour, 4 minute) and on YouTube (video). Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1XB-HR-gfc&list=PLl68fplNJM8BllJyVlgEISB16TS5v1xQ0&index=13 and Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8gUYS4elUM&list=PLl68fplNJM8BllJyVlgEISB16TS5v1xQ0&index=14