Richard Ernest Jackson Jr. (born July 18, 1945) is an American politician, civil servant, and educator from New York. A Republican, Jackson has served as New York State Commissioner of Motor Vehicles, Mayor of Peekskill, New York, and as a member of the Peekskill City Council.
He is the first African-American to serve as mayor of a city in the history of New York.
Early life
Jackson was born in Peekskill on July 18, 1945.[2]
Career
Jackson began his career as a mathematics teacher at Peekskill High School.[1]
Jackson later taught calculus at Averill Park High School.
A three-term Peekskill City Councilmember, Jackson was appointed Mayor of Peekskill in December 1984 by a unanimous vote of the City Council when the previous mayor, George Pataki, stepped down to serve in the New York State Assembly.[2][3] Upon assuming office, he became the first African-American Mayor of Peekskill.[2][3] According to The New York Times, Jackson was also the first African-American mayor of a city in the State of New York.[2][a] A Republican, Jackson won a full term as mayor in 1985; he later won re-election to two successive terms with the largest pluralities in the city's 51-year history.[1] He continued to teach mathematics at Peekskill High School while serving in his part-time mayoral post. Jackson stepped down on April 24, 1991.[1]
^Although The New York Times has referred to Jackson as the first African-American mayor of a city in New York history, Jackson was not the first African-American mayor in New York history. The Villages of Cleveland, Port Byron, and Bridgewater, respectively, had African-American chief executives before Jackson became Mayor of Peekskill. Ben White, an African-American, was elected Mayor of the Cayuga CountyVillage of Port Byron on March 16, 1971.[4] Everett T. Holmes, also an African-American, served as Mayor of the Oneida CountyVillage of Bridgewater from 1974 to 1976 and from 1978 until 1982.[4][5] Also, Ronald Blackwood, an African-American man from Mount Vernon, New York, became Acting Mayor of that city in 1976.[2] According to The New York History Blog and the Cleveland Historical Society, the Oswego CountyVillage of Cleveland elected an African-American man named Edward "Ned" Sherman to the position of village president in May 1878.[6][7]
