Collection is open for research.
Gift of the Jackson family around the 1950s (Photo Acc. 000D026); gift of the Oregon Daily Journal, care of William W. Knight, publisher, September 1966 (Lib. Acc. 10239).
The collection is arranged in the following series:
Charles Samuel "Sam" Jackson was born in Virginia in 1860, and moved to Pendleton, Oregon, in 1880. He worked as a printer for the East Oregonian newspaper before acquiring it in 1882 and becoming its publisher. In 1886, he married Maria Clopton (born 1862), who had also come to Oregon from Virginia, and they had two sons, Francis Clopton Jackson (born 1887) and Philip Ludwell Jackson (born 1893). In 1902, C. S. Jackson moved to Portland to take over the recently established Evening Journal, an afternoon daily, which was failing. With a group of investors, C. S. Jackson bought the paper, changed the name to the Oregon Journal, and established it as a competitor to the Oregonian. Maria Jackson and their sons followed him to Portland and, later, into the business. The newspaper was a success under C. S. Jackson's ownership, and in 1912, it moved to a new building constructed for it at SW Broadway and Yamhill (now known as the Jackson Tower).
Francis Clopton Jackson attended the Oregon Agricultural College (now Oregon State University) and worked for the Journal Publishing Company. During World War I, he joined the merchant marine after being unable to enlist for military service due to poor vision, and died in a shipwreck in 1919. He had one child, a son born in 1914, named Charles Samuel Jackson after his grandfather. The younger C. S. Jackson served as associate publisher of the Oregon Journal before his death in the crash of the Journal's helicopter in 1947.
Francis C. Jackson's brother, Philip L. Jackson, attended Princeton and Harvard before serving in the U.S. Army during World I, and became a director of the Journal Publishing Company in 1919. After C. S. Jackson died in 1924, Philip L. Jackson succeeded his father as publisher of the Oregon Journal and president of the Journal Publishing Company. He also became editor of the newspaper in 1937, and served as editor and publisher until his death in 1953. During his tenure, in 1948, the newspaper moved from the Journal Building to the former Public Market Building on Front Street between Yamhill and Taylor.
Maria C. Jackson survived her husband, sons, and grandson. She retained an ownership stake in the Journal after her husband's death, and was active in civic and Episcopal Church affairs, including advocating for the use of the Battleship Oregon as a marine museum, and leading the organization of the George A. White Service center and veterans club during World War II. When Maria Jackson died in 1956, she left the bulk of her estate to establish a charitable organization, the Jackson Foundation. The foundation operated the Oregon Journal until 1961, when the trustees sold the newspaper to the owner of the Oregonian.
Sources: "Last Rites are Held for C.S. Jackson," Oregon Journal, December 29, 1924, page 1; "Charles S. (Sam) Jackson (1860-1924), Oregon Encyclopedia,
Charles S. Jackson family photographs collection, Org. Lot 36, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
Collection was initially arranged and described by Sharon M. Howe in 2003, and an online collection guide made in 2006. The collection guide was revised by Katie Mayer in October 2024 to correct information in the inventory, provide additional biographical information, and conform to current standard. Some photographs in the collection are marked with the number Mss 1389 on the back; these images were separated from a manuscript collection of C. S. Jackson's papers and were transferred to the photographs collection during processing of the papers.
Other collections at the Oregon Historical Society Research Library that relate to the Jackson family and the Oregon Journal include the Philip L. Jackson collection, Mss 2904; two vertical files, Biography - Jackson, Charles Samuel and Biography - Jackson, Maria Clopton; and the Oregon Journal photographs collection, Org. Lot 1027.
This collection consists of 150 photographs relating to Charles S. Jackson and his family. The images include portraits and informal photographs of Jackson; his wife, Maria Clopton Jackson; and their sons, Francis Clopton Jackson and Philip Ludwell Jackson, among other family members. Among these are photographs depicting Francis Jackson during his service with the merchant marines and Philip Jackson's service with the U.S. Army during World War I. There are also photographs of the buildings, activities, and employees of the East Oregonian newspaper in Pendleton, Oregon, and the Oregon Journal newspaper in Portland, including images depicting the construction of the Oregon Journal building in 1912. Images in the collection range in date from 1880 to 1951; most were taken from approximately 1900 to 1930.
A portion of the photographs in this collection were received with papers that were cataloged separately by the Oregon Historical Society Research Library as the Charles Samuel Jackson papers, Mss 1389.
The Oregon Historical Society owns the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from the Research Library prior to any reproduction use. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collections, In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from copyright owners.
Includes portraits, professional photographs, and snapshots of Charles S. Jackson and Maria Jackson; their sons, Francis Jackson and Philip Jackson; their grandson, also named Charles S. Jackson; and the elder Charles S. Jackson's brother, Moat Jackson. Snapshots show family, friends, automobile trips, and recreational activities, most unidentified as to location, names, and dates. Another group of snapshots relate to Francis Jackson's service with the merchant marines during World War I. Others who are pictured with family members include Portland restaurateur and caterer Henry Thiele and actress Blanche Sweet.
Includes photographs taken while Jackson was serving as honorary vice-chairwoman of Democratic rally in Portland, Oregon, 1936; at her 80th birthday celebration in 1942; and at the Pendleton Round-Up around 1950.
Images mostly depict recreational activities, including automobile trips, camping, swimming, boating, and fishing.
Includes photographs taken on automobile and fishing trips, as well as during foreign travel; photographs with his wife, Ella Tenney Jackson; and photographs of his service with the United States Army during World War I.
Two group portraits in which Philip Jackson is identified, one taken at Princeton in 1915, and one that appears to be at an event in Portland in 1925.
The series is arranged chronologically.
This series documents the facilities of the East Oregonian in Pendleton and activities of and related to the Oregon Journal, including its relationship to KOIN radio station. Among the images are portraits of Billie Burke and Lillian Russell, autographed and inscribed to C. S. Jackson.
Office (group includes C. S. Jackson and Maria Clopton Jackson), composing room, and press room.
Photograph of Billie Burke autographed to Charles Samuel Jackson and photograph of Lillian Russell inscribed: "To a Real Editor, Mr. Jackson, from Lillian Russell, 1915."
This series includes images of the Oregon Journal Building at Yamhill and Broadway in downtown Portland from construction to completion, and one image of the Front Street building that supplanted it. The first building became known as the Jackson Tower after the Journal moved to the former public market building on Front Street in 1948.
Includes architect's rendering.