Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” These words are recorded in the Holy Scriptures in Matthews 7:7. They are also words that encouraged the Reverend Julius D. Jackson, acting Senior Pastor of Trinity Emmanuel Presbyterian Church, in his mission to have two major undertakings achieved in the City of Rochester; the illumination of the Frederick Douglass monument and the renaming of Rochester’s International Airport. Rev. Julius, Jr. attended the 2006 groundbreaking of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in Washington, D. C. there he was inspired by the words of the Honorable Andrew Young. The message–“Return to your community and Turn the Dirt”. That one phrase ignited a fire within Rev. Jackson to propose two major projects–the lighting of the Frederick Douglass monument and the renaming of the Greater Rochester International Airport. He has witnessed the fruit of his labor and has indeed–Turned the Dirt in the City of Rochester and the County of Monroe. As a Community Activist, Rev. Jackson’s most recent crowning achievements were participating in the ribbon cutting of the newly installed Frederick Douglass Memorial Plaza on December 2019, at the corners of South Avenue and Robinson Drive. Moving the 102 years old monument to a more visible and accessible location was inspired by him, who rallied for years to light the statue. It took 10 years for this to happen. “A dream differed does not equate to a dream denied,” Rev. Jackson states,” In June, 2009 as I called forth members of the community to give tribute to Frederick Douglass on the 110th anniversary year of the unveiling of his famous monument, I asked that we symbolically shine a light on the statue in hopes that the dream of permanently lighting the statue would be fulfilled.” For 78 years the unlit monument faced away from the road and was often obscured by trees and foliage but is now the centerpiece of the newly designed Plaza. Today, the Plaza, celebrating Douglass, features a concrete surface accented by bluestone pavers, stone seating walls, ornamental planting beds, lighting and an illuminated sculpture depicting the North Star standing out among other constellations. The North Star held significance in Douglass’s life, as guidance for the Underground Railroad, and the name of the anti-slavery newspaper he published in Rochester. Speaking at a December 4, 2019ceremony, surrounded by a large crowd local and state officials, media and supporters, Rev. Jackson stated,“ Mr. Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey Douglass, tonight we are here to cut the ribbon opening this memorial plaza and to light up the statue in your likeness. BUT WE WON’T STOP! NO, WE CAN’T STOP! We will yet continue to take up the charge to shine a light on the various injustices, and threats to freedom, that still remain.” The Frederick Douglass Memorial Plaza is Rochester’s Highland Park’s newest attraction. Its location is at the gateway to the city’s oldest and most famous festival, the Lilac Festival, and will let visitors see how important the legacy of Frederick Douglass is to the history of Rochester. Another major achievement of Rev. Jackson was realized on Sunday, February 14, 2021;it was the renaming of the Rochester International Airport to the Frederick Douglass International Airport. This event happened on what would have been Frederick Douglass’ 203rdbirthday.Who was Frederick Douglass? Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey was born into slavery on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay in Talbot County, Maryland. On September 3, 1838, Douglass successfully escaped slavery by boarding a north bound train. Not long after he changed his surname. In his first autobiography, Douglass stated: “I have no accurate knowledge of my age, never having seen any authentic record containing it.” Though the exact date of his birth is unknown, he chose to celebrate February 14 as his birthday, remembering that his mother called him her “Little Valentine.” The year of birth is considered 1818.
As a “fugitive slave” and being highly pursued by his master and bounty hunters Douglass would often travel to Europe for the purpose of giving lectures and promoting the abolishment of slavery within the United States. During one of these trips, in 1846, his freedom was purchased from his “slave master. Upon returning to the U.S. in 1847, using monies given to him by English supporters, Douglass started publishing his first abolitionist newspaper, the North Star, from the basement of the Memorial AME Zion Church in Rochester. The North Star’s motto was “Right is of no Sex–Truth is of no Color–God is the Father of us all, and we are all brethren.” In the1840s, Rochester was known for its zeal to end slavery and a promising escape route on the Underground Railroad. It was conveniently located along the Erie Canal and railroads, mid-way between New England and the Midwest. Douglass and his wife, Anna, made their home in Rochester for 25 years where they raised a family. Despite living through one of our nation’s most bitter and terrifying times, Frederick and his wife, Anna, raised five children in a loving home with flower, fruit and vegetable gardens. While Frederick traveled widely on lecture tours, fighting for the freedom and rights of his brethren, Anna cared for their home and their family and extended circle. Their house was open to Freedom Seekers on the Underground Railroad, visiting abolitionists and house guests who stayed for weeks, months and years at a time. Douglass called Rochester home from 1847 to 1872, and lived here longer than anywhere else in his life. In Rochester he published his newspapers, (the North Star and Frederick Douglass’ Paper), assisted friends Amy and Isaac Post in Underground Railroad activities, hosted runaway slaves in his own home, gave speeches, supported women’s suffrage alongside suffragist Susan B. Anthony and much more before moving to Washington D.C. in 1872. (The Douglass family moved to Washington, D.C. as the result of their home being destroyed by fire.)Upon his death on February 20, 1895, at the age of 77, many tributes to Douglass were made in Rochester, throughout America and in Europe. Yet, perhaps the greatest tribute to his life and times was inspired by one man. Rev. Jackson’s efforts to highlight the life and times of Frederick Douglass are reminiscent of Rochester Community Activist–John W. Thompson. On June 9, 1899, John W. Thompson, a young local African America, learned from experience that one man can influence history by following his dream. The story had begun 4 ½ years earlier at a meeting in November 1894 of Eureka Lodge 36, Free and Accepted Masons, Prince Hall. That evening, Thompson, a waiter at the Powers Hotel, had submitted a proposal for erecting a unique monument in Rochester to memorialize “African American” soldiers and sailors who had died in the Civil War. The lodge enthusiastically embraced the proposal and established the Civil War Veteran Monument Committee to direct the project. When Thompson was appointed committee chairman, he had no idea of the trials to come the next several years. He was to see his initial proposal modified several times and abandoned by some of its strongest supporters. But eventually his idea would become reality in the nation’s first memorial for an African American citizen. Although the people of Rochester showed a lot of interest in raising the $10,000 needed for the monument, funds were hard to collect.
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The country was going through a depression in the mid-1800s, and there seemed to be little money available for this type of venture. After a short struggle that raised $2,500, the monument committee turned in it solicitation books and decided to abandon the effort. But Thompson refused to give up. He went before the finance committee of the New York State Assembly in January 1897 to ask for a $5,000 appropriation toward the monument fund. The Assembly and the Senate unanimously passed an amended bill that gave the fund $3,000. In October 1897, Thompson invited the government of Haiti to help fund the monument. Douglass had serve as U.S. Minister to Haiti and was held in high esteem by its citizens. Haiti contributed $1,000.Thompson realized that his project needed the endorsement of a prominent figure connect with Rochester. During the late 1800’s Rochester was best known, throughout the nation and the world, as the former home of Frederick Douglass. Thompson wrote to Douglass, who was then living in Washington, D.C., and within a few weeks Douglass responded:
“I am more than pleased with the patriotic purpose to erect in Rochester a monument in honor of the colored soldier who, under great discouragements, at the moment of the national peril, volunteered to go to the front and fight fort their country–when assured in advance that neither by our own government nor that of the Confederates would they be accorded the equal rights of peace or of war. The colored soldier fought all the same. I shall be proud if I shall live to see the proposed monument erected in the city of Rochester, where the best years of my life were spent in the service of our people–and which to this day seems like my home.” That letter from Douglass sparked the support of the community at large. But the monument committee decided to make the proposal even more attractive by giving the monument a dual purpose. Editorials soon appeared in the most local newspapers, approving the new plans to depict the “colored” heroes in granite and the “Great Negro Leader” Frederick Douglass in bronze. On the night of February 20, 1895, however, new reached Rochester that Douglass had died suddenly. The next morningseveral newspapers quoted Thompson as saying the monument would be erected “solely in memory of the lateFrederick Douglass.” The announcement drew overwhelming support and soon was carried in papers throughout thestate and the nation. The Smith Granite Co. of Westerly, R.I., was contracted to design, produce and install the 17-foot-tall memorial. An 8-foot likeness of Douglass, made of imperishable bronze, would stand on a 9-foot pedestal of Westerly gray granite. The youngest Douglass son, Charles, eventually posed for the sculpture by Smith Granite employee Stanley Edwards. Four years later an 8-foot bronze likeness of Douglass on top of a 9-foot granite pedestal was originally unveiled at St. Paul Street and Central Avenue, in front of the old New York Central Train Station. Ten thousand people, including many dignitaries and Theodore Roosevelt, then the governor of New York, were on hand for the dedication. “It is fitting that it should stand near a great portal of our city,” Mayor George Warner said in a proclamation, “where thousands who enter may see that she is willing to acknowledge to the world that her most illustrious citizen is not a white man.” The Frederick Douglass Monument; the nation’s first statue honoring an African American, was relocated to Highland Park in 1941.Place under a picture of Rev Jackson in shadow box on second page Born in Centreville, Mississippi to the late Rev. Julius D. Jackson, Sr. and Josetta A. Jackson, Rev. Julius David Jackson, Jr. (J.D.) spent the first year of life in Monroe, Louisiana until his family relocated to Rochester, NY in 1966. He attended Rush-Henrietta Roth High School and in 2018 received the distinguished alumni award from the Rush Henrietta Alum Association. He completed his undergraduate education at Monroe Community College and the Rochester Institute of Technology and holds both an Associate’s Degree and a Bachelor’s Degree from those schools. He obtained his Master’s Degree in Divinity from Colgate Rochester Crozier Divinity School (CRCDS). He is a former member of Mt. Vernon Baptist Church, Rochester, NY, under the direction of his father. In addition to serving as acting Pastor at Trinity Emmanuel Presbyterian church for the past two years he also serves as a Chaplain at St. John’s Home, also in Rochester, NY. Rev, Jackson is the father of two sons, Julius David III and, James Anderson Samuel.
