Judge Leo A. Jackson (BA, Morehouse College; MBA, Atlanta University; World War II veteran) pursued his J.D. at Cleveland-Marshall while working full-time at the Veteran’s Administration, graduating as the top student in Trusts. He declined admittance to Harvard Law when he discovered he could not live on campus. When he applied to transfer to University of Georgia Law, they instead gave him a scholarship to study in Cleveland to avoid admitting him to the all-white school. Judge Jackson became Ward 24’s (Glenville) first black City Council member (1957). He received extensive media attention due to his frequent condemnation of inadequate police response and poor city services in this ward. During his second term, Governor Michael DiSalle offered him appointment to Cleveland Municipal Court. His commitment to unresolved community issues led him to turn down the appointment, prompting a 1961 cover story in Ebony Magazine. He remained Councilman for 14 years. When Judge Jackson finally left Council and ran for the Eighth District Court of Appeals (1970), he was elected by a wide margin countywide, becoming the first African-American to serve in this court. Throughout his years of public service, he was known as a passionate champion of equal justice under the law. Upon retirement in 1987, he was honored by the Norman Minor Bar Association and Ohio State Bar Association. Among his many lifetime honors was appointment by President Lyndon Johnson to membership on the Planning Committee for the White House Conference, “To Fulfill These Rights,”(1966). He also received an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from his alma mater, Morehouse College (1977). Judge Jackson’s professional papers are housed at the Western Reserve Historical Society. The life and legacy of Judge Jackson is also chronicled in the book, “American National Biography,” (Oxford University Press, 2008).