Richard E. Jackson

Early life

Jackson was born in Peekskill on July 18, 1945. Upon assuming office, he became the first African-American Mayor of Peekskill. Everett T. Holmes, also an African-American, served as Mayor of the Oneida County Village of Bridgewater from 1974 to 1976 and from 1978 until 1982. Also, Ronald Blackwood, an African-American man from Mount Vernon, New York, became Acting Mayor of that city in 1976. 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. He continued to teach mathematics at Peekskill High School while serving in his part-time mayoral post. Jackson stepped down on April 24, 1991.