James A. Jackson (?-1976)

Historian.

He was a native of Winnipeg. After serving in the Canadian artillery in Europe during World War II, he was a lecturer in history at St. John’s College and a part-time member of the staff of the Provincial Library for work in the Archives. Between 1946 and 1950, he served as Secretary of the Manitoba Historical Societyand was also named Archivist of the Province during that time. He received an MA degree in 1948 from the University of Manitoba.In 1951, he began teaching history at the Technical Vocational High School, Winnipeg, later becoming Associate Professor of History at the University of Manitoba.

He was a scholar whose contribution to Manitoba history was deep and lasting. His study of the railway policies of the Greenway government cast a new light on the events from which the Manitoba School Question came. His Centennial History of Manitoba is a wholly admirable history of this province, readable, popular, and scholarly. More lasting, perhaps, was his service as the first archivist for Manitoba. It was James James Jackson who started to put in useable order the already considerable records of the province and who began the collection of other records, both private and public.

He died on 14 October 1976.

His articles for the Manitoba Historical Society:

The Background of the Battle of Fort Whyte
MHS Transactions, Series 3, 1945-46 Season

Railways and the Manitoba School Question
MHS Transactions, Series 3, 1973-74 Season

Profile revised: 14 October 2008

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