Harold Lee Jackson:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A History of Radiotelegraphy, Race, and Resistance in Chatham<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On April 11, 1922, Roy H. Cole sent a telegram message from Oklahoma City to Harold Lee Jackson in Chatham, Ontario.[1]<\/a> As a historical researcher, Cole\u2019s telegram message poses an interesting question: why would Cole, a stranger to Jackson, send a postcard with telegraph metrics to Chatham? I was surprised to learn from a Chatham-Kent Black Historical Society curator that Cole\u2019s message was part of a larger collection of telegram messages archived in the society\u2019s museum. As I read through Jackson\u2019s archive, this historical mystery became more complex. I saw postcards from Maine, Michigan, Ohio, Missouri, and even Puerto Rico that were delivered to Jackson\u2019s residence. Why was Jackson receiving so many postcards? Was he a telegraphy professional? When did Jackson\u2019s interest in telegraph communication begin? As I continued researching Jackson\u2019s past in its historical context, I learned such questions reveal only part of the more significant history behind these postcards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By examining the origins of Jackson\u2019s interest in radiotelegraphy through the material history of Jackson\u2019s wireless telegraph machine, researchers can write a fascinating story about race, resistance, and social power in Chatham. In doing so, historians can complicate their understanding of Jackson\u2019s past. This past addresses what it means to be a Black man living in a community with deep connections to slavery, racism, migration, and abolitionism. More specifically, the machine\u2019s material history reflects three historiographical themes in Black micro-histories of Southwestern Ontario. First, Jackson\u2019s machine symbolizes the Black community\u2019s resistance to racial barriers in institutional structures through social power. Second, the machine represents Jackson\u2019s innovative intellectualism and, by extension, the Black community\u2019s role in advancing its economic empowerment in Chatham. Third, Jackson\u2019s wireless machine and postcard notes illustrate a transnational history that continues to shape the interconnectedness between Chatham and American histories. Ultimately, the machine\u2019s past demonstrates how Jackson\u2019s telegraphy career challenged racial oppression in Southwestern Ontario and, in the process, promoted social and economic empowerment in Chatham\u2019s Black community in the early 20th<\/sup> century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before I explore Jackson\u2019s telegraphy career in detail, it is essential to situate his past in a historical context. Harold Lee Jackson was born on January 12, 1901, to William and Effie Jackson in Chatham, Ontario.[2]<\/a> The future telegrapher grew up in the Southwestern Ontario town, alongside his siblings Theora, Dorothy, and Madeline.[3]<\/a> Jackson was raised in Chatham\u2019s early 20th<\/sup> century segregated society rooted in discriminatory 19th<\/sup> century laws.[4]<\/a> Despite these racial barriers, Jackson continued his daily life. For example, he married Hattie Lucas on 251 King Street, Chatham, Ontario. According to a local newspaper story, the young couple left Chatham for an \u201cautomobile trip\u201d after the ceremony and returned in the evening to host a reception with a \u201cdainty repast.\u201d[5]<\/a> Harold and Hattie welcomed four children into their family: Harold Jr., Virginia, Ada, and Charles. In addition to his familial duties, Jackson spent significant time learning telegraphy. Captivated by radiotelegraphy\u2019s commercial opportunities, Jackson purchased a customized wireless \u201cKey on Board\u201d telegraph machine to further his career. This customized machine transformed Jackson\u2019s life, as outlined below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jackson\u2019s telegraphy capabilities attracted the attention of local Chatham residents and the wider North American radiotelegraphy profession. The young adult became a symbol for the Black community\u2019s social progress in the early 20th<\/sup> century. For example, in 1922, Jackson was registered as the first Black licensed ham radio operator in Canada.[6]<\/a> This impressive accomplishment suggests that Jackson was a professional, accredited radio operator. Then, in 1923, Jackson secured a position as a city correspondent for the Ontario Division of the American Radio Relay League \u2013 an American organization designed to connect amateur radio groups.[7]<\/a> In this position, Jackson co-operated with radio amateurs in Ontario to advance the profession\u2019s interests and build a telegraphy community.[8]<\/a> Jackson\u2019s growing interest in telegraphy coincided with the North American radio industry\u2019s post-First World War expansion.[9]<\/a> During this period, radio enthusiasts recognized the industry\u2019s ability to expand their scientific curiosity. In short, radio transitioned from a government apparatus to an inclusive activity people could use to communicate with friends and family, though men often dominated the corporate telegraphy sector.[10]<\/a> <\/ins><\/p>\n\n\n\n More importantly, Jackson\u2019s radiotelegraphy career is rooted in Chatham\u2019s Black history. Traditionally, Canadians embrace \u201ccolour-blind\u201d histories that neglect how race informed people\u2019s lived experiences.[11]<\/a> In fact, Chatham\u2019s role in the Atlantic world is often presented as a \u201csafe haven\u201d for Black people. However, this view overlooks how racial violence and segregation informed the Black Canadian experience, particularly in the twentieth century.[12]<\/a> My analysis shows that race was central to Jackson\u2019s history, and that his telegraphy accomplishments illustrate that he was not a passive victim of racial oppression. Instead, he became a local symbol for Chatham\u2019s legacy of Black resistance to segregation and economic inequalities in Canada. Through radiotelegraphy, Jackson used his social power to shape the Black community\u2019s activist role in Southwestern Ontario in the 20th<\/sup> century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jackson\u2019s entrepreneurial and education careers also display his economic power and active intellectualism in the broader Chatham-Kent region. In 1925, Jackson opened a radio repair shop, where he helped amateur radiotelegraphers send radio signals across Canada and the United States. Drawing on his mother\u2019s entrepreneurial spirit as an ice cream parlour manager, Jackson continued the tradition of promoting Black economic power in Chatham. This entrepreneurial spirit was not uncommon in Chatham\u2019s Black community. Since the community\u2019s initial 19th<\/sup> century settlement in the region, Black doctors, lawyers, and teachers actively participated in the professional community to advance their economic positionality in Southwestern Ontario, such as the notable pan-Africanist medical doctor Martin Delany.[13]<\/a> Moreover, Jackson taught at Chatham\u2019s Woodstock Industrial School at the newly founded \u201cWireless Telegraphy\u201d department. The Woodstock Industrial School was established in 1908 as an integrated institution designed to educate children in the skilled trades.[14]<\/a> As a teacher, Jackson shared his knowledge in telegraphy, empowering Black children to seek trades careers. In doing so, Jackson continued Chatham\u2019s history of Black intellectual engagement that is traditionally overlooked in Canadian histories.[15]<\/a> In short, Jackson\u2019s telegraph machine symbolizes his entrepreneurial spirit and teaching career that shaped the Black community\u2019s economic and intellectual prowess in the early 20th<\/sup> century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jackson\u2019s telegraphy career also sheds light on Chatham\u2019s transnational history. As noted earlier, Jackson received telegraph messages from across the Atlantic world. For example, on July 31, 1922, Jackson received a postcard from Cleveland native Milton Fruebouf. Fruebouf notes that Jackson\u2019s telegraph signal is \u201cvery good\u201d and asks the Chatham local what telegraph system he uses.[16]<\/a> Like many messages sent to Jackson, Fruebouf is grateful to work with the Chatham telegrapher. Although Fruebouf likely did not know Jackson, the two men were collegial. Another message sent from Puerto Rican Luis Rexach on January 29, 1923, highlights a friendly transatlantic conversation between Jackson and telegraphers. Rexach writes to Jackson, \u201cVy [sic] glad indeed to learn that you copy me so well.\u201d[17]<\/a> Although Rexach\u2019s message is short, he expresses his collegiality by telling Jackson, \u201cBet its cold over there [Chatham] now.\u201d[18]<\/a> While most messages sent to Jackson focus on telegraphy metrics, they also reflect a sense of community and inclusiveness in the telegraphy movement. These messages illustrate Chatham\u2019s historic role in blurring American and Canadian borders that began with Black migrations from the United States to Southwestern Ontario in the 19th<\/sup> century.[19]<\/a> Evidently, Jackson connected Chatham to a historic transatlantic network that influenced Chatham\u2019s legacy as an important centre for scientific and economic development outside Canada\u2019s major metropolitan centers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In the late 1940s and 1950s, Jackson\u2019s business career continued to grow. He even created a television set during his spare time.[20]<\/a> In recognition of these accomplishments, Jackson was awarded a life membership to the Chatham Kent Amateur Radio Club in 1960.[21]<\/a> Clearly, Chatham locals noticed Jackson\u2019s importance in defining the Black community\u2019s legacy in the mid 20th<\/sup> century. However, as Jackson\u2019s health declined, he had to close his radiotelegraphy enterprise. Jackson passed away on July 8, 1964 \u2013 he was 63 years old. <\/ins><\/p>\n\n\n\n As we reach the end of Jackson\u2019s life story, I hope that we, as historical researchers, can appreciate his role in Canadian history. The famous British historian E.H. Carr once asked: \u201cWhat is History?\u201d[22]<\/a> Through this research project, I have learned that Jackson\u2019s history has been largely forgotten outside the Chatham community. In fact, many Black Canadian histories are regularly silenced in the historical record. Nonetheless, by addressing these silences through grassroots research methods, I think we can answer Carr\u2019s question. History, as a discipline and professional practice, extends beyond political and military accounts. History is also about ordinary people and their lived experiences \u2013 these narratives give us a glimpse into Canada\u2019s past. Without these stories, we overlook how ordinary<\/em> people, including Jackson, led extraordinary<\/em> lives. As this blog demonstrates, Jackson\u2019s history reveals how the Black community in Chatham invoked social power, sought economic development, valued education, and connected Southwestern Ontario to the broader Atlantic world throughout the 20th<\/sup> century. Indeed, history is a dialogue between us and the past \u2013 a continuous conversation that unravels historical silences forgotten in the public sphere. What is history, you ask? I reply: \u201cStudy the small things in the archive.\u201d In doing so, perhaps we can learn how Harold Lee Jackson\u2019s history provides an answer to Carr\u2019s question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bibliography<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAfrican Canadian Workers: From 1900 to the Second World War: Harold Lee Jackson.\u201d Private collection of Chatham-Kent Black Historical Society, accessed October 1, 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Carr, E.H. What is History?<\/em> London: Penguin UK, 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cole, H. Roy. \u201cPostcard addressed to H. Jackson.\u201d Private collection of Chatham-Kent Black Historical Society, April 11, 1922.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Este, C. David. \u201cBlack Canadian Historical Writing, 1970-2006: An Assessment.\u201d Journal of Black Studies<\/em> 38, no. 3 (2008): 388-406.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fruebouf, Milton. \u201cPostcard addressed to H. Jackson.\u201d Private collection of Chatham-Kent Black Historical Society, July 31, 1922.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Henry, Natasha and Adrienne Shadd. \u201c\u2018\u2026and still I rise:\u2019 A History of Black Workers in Ontario, 1900 to Present: Teacher\u2019s Guide.\u201d Workers Arts and Heritage, August 2003.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hepburn, Roger Sharon. Crossing the Border: A Free Black Community in Canada<\/em>. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2007.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHonor Amateur Radio Operator.\u201d Private collection of Chatham-Kent Black Historical Society, accessed October 1, 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJackson Family Tree.\u201d Private collection of Chatham-Kent Black Historical Society, accessed October 1, 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Paul, Heike. \u201cOut of Chatham: Abolitionism on the Canadian Frontier.\u201d Atlantic Studies<\/em> 8, no. 2 (2011): 165-188.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPicture of Jackson Family.\u201d Private collection of Chatham-Kent Black Historical Society, accessed October 2, 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reid-Maroney, Nina. \u201c\u2018A Contested Mind Is a Continual Feast\u2019: Tracing Intellectual Migrations through the Promised Land,\u201d in The Promised Land: History and Historiography of the Black Experience in Chatham-Kent\u2019s Settlements and Beyond<\/em>, ed. Boulou de b\u2019Beri, Nina Reid-Maroney, and Handel K. Wright. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2014, 106-128.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rens, Jean-Guy. The Invisible Empire: A History of the Telecommunications Industry in Canada<\/em>, 1846-1956<\/em>. Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen\u2019s University Press, 2001.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rexach, Luis. \u201cPostcard addressed to H. Jackson.\u201d Private collection of Chatham-Kent Black Historical Society, January 29, 1923.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shadd, Adrienne. \u201cNo \u2018Black Alley Clique\u2019: The campaign to desegregate Chatham\u2019s public schools, 1891-1893.\u201d Ontario History<\/em> 99, no. 1 (2007): 77-95.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Slotten, Richard Hugh. \u201cUniversities, public service experimentation, and the origins of radio broadcasting in the United States, 1900-1920.\u201d Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television<\/em> 26, no. 4 (2006): 485-504.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe American Radio Relay League, Inc: Harold Jackson Certificate.\u201d Private collection of Chatham-Kent Black Historical Society, accessed October 1, 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tilloston, Shirley. \u201c\u2018We May All Soon Be First Class Men\u2019: Gender and Skill in Canada\u2019s Early Twentieth Century Urban Telegraph Industry.\u201d Labour\/Le Travail<\/em> 27 (1991): 97-125.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Walcott, Rinaldo. Black Like Who?<\/em> Toronto: Insomniac Press, 2003.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWeddings: Jackson-Lucas.\u201d Private collection of Chatham-Kent Black Historical Society, accessed October 1, 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Winks, W. Robin. The Blacks in Canada<\/em>. Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen\u2019s University Press, 1997.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Harold Jackson\u2019s Telegraph Machine<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n [1]<\/a> Roy H. Cole, \u201cPostcard addressed to H. Jackson\u201d (Private collection of Chatham-Kent Black Historical Society, April 11, 1922).<\/p>\n\n\n\n [2]<\/a> \u201cJackson Family Tree\u201d (Private collection of Chatham-Kent Black Historical Society, accessed October 1, 2021).<\/p>\n\n\n\n [3]<\/a> \u201cPicture of Jackson Family\u201d (Private collection of Chatham-Kent Black Historical Society, accessed October 2, 2021).<\/p>\n\n\n\n [4]<\/a> Robin W. Winks, The Blacks in Canada<\/em> (Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen\u2019s University Press, 1997), 149.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [5]<\/a> \u201cWeddings: Jackson-Lucas\u201d (Private collection of Chatham-Kent Black Historical Society, accessed October 1, 2021).<\/p>\n\n\n\n [6]<\/a> \u201cAfrican Canadian Workers: From 1900 to the Second World War: Harold Lee Jackson\u201d (Private collection of Chatham-Kent Black Historical Society, accessed October 1, 2021).<\/p>\n\n\n\n [7]<\/a> Hugh Richard Slotten, \u201cUniversities, public service experimentation, and the origins of radio broadcasting in the United States, 1900-1920,\u201d Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television<\/em> 26, no. 4 (2006): 485-504, 492.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [8]<\/a> \u201cThe American Radio Relay League, Inc: Harold Jackson Certificate\u201d (Private collection of Chatham-Kent Black Historical Society, accessed October 1, 2021).<\/p>\n\n\n\n [9]<\/a> Jean-Guy Rens, The Invisible Empire: A History of the Telecommunications Industry in Canada<\/em>, 1846-1956<\/em> (Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen\u2019s University Press, 2001), 195.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [10]<\/a> Shirley Tilloston, \u201c\u2018We May All Soon Be First Class Men\u2019: Gender and Skill in Canada\u2019s Early Twentieth Century Urban Telegraph Industry,\u201d Labour\/Le Travail<\/em> 27 (1991): 97-125, 124.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [11]<\/a> David C. Este, \u201cBlack Canadian Historical Writing, 1970-2006: An Assessment,\u201d Journal of Black Studies<\/em> 38, no. 3 (2008): 388-406, 401.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [12]<\/a> Sharon Roger Hepburn, Crossing the Border: A Free Black Community in Canada<\/em> (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2007), 10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [13]<\/a> Rinaldo Walcott, Black Like Who?<\/em> (Toronto: Insomniac Press, 2003), 34.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [14]<\/a> Adrienne Shadd, \u201cNo \u2018Black Alley Clique\u2019: The campaign to desegregate Chatham\u2019s public schools, 1891-1893,\u201d Ontario History<\/em> 99, no. 1 (2007): 77-95, 82.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [15]<\/a> Nina Reid-Maroney, \u201c\u2018A Contested Mind Is a Continual Feast\u2019: Tracing Intellectual Migration through the Promised Land,\u201d in The Promised Land: History and Historiography of the Black Experience in Chatham-Kent\u2019s Settlements and Beyond<\/em>, ed. Boulou de b\u2019Beri, Nina Reid-Maroney, and Handel K. Wright (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2014), 106-128, 107.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [16]<\/a> Milton Fruebouf, \u201cPostcard addressed to H. Jackson,\u201d (Private collection of Chatham-Kent Black Historical Society, July 31, 1922).<\/p>\n\n\n\n [17]<\/a> Luis Rexach, \u201cPostcard addressed to H. Jackson,\u201d (Private collection of Chatham-Kent Black Historical Society, January 29, 1923).<\/p>\n\n\n\n [18]<\/a> Ibid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [19]<\/a> Heike Paul, \u201cOut of Chatham: Abolitionism on the Canadian Frontier,\u201d Atlantic Studies<\/em> 8, no. 2 (2011): 165-188, 166.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [20]<\/a> Natasha Henry and Adrienne Shadd, \u201c\u2018\u2026and still I rise:\u2019 A History of Black Workers in Ontario, 1900 to Present: Teacher\u2019s Guide,\u201d Workers Arts and Heritage, August 2003, 23.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/del>Nikesh Mehta-Spooner<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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