Through his camera lens Frank R. Jackson (1908-2007) documented the Anacostia area of Washington, DC.  A native Washingtonian, Mr. Jackson graduated from Dunbar High School in 1925, then he attended Miner Teachers College.  Jackson taught for several years in Maryland before returning to the District.  He was also a creator of crossword puzzles and worked for the Government Printing Office.

Mr. Jackson became a professional photographer in the 1950s and co-owned a photography studio: Turner-Jackson Photography at 1934 11th street, N.W. He married Florence Thomas in 1933, a teacher at the Apex Cosmetology School on U Street. In 1940, the couple bought a house on Alabama Avenue in Anacostia.  Mr. Jackson started photographing various activities of neighborhood kids a decade later.  Although he specialized in family portraits, Jackson’s photographic negatives of Anacostia not only provide a window into the local community during that time period but “reflect the growth and development of Anacostia.”

Frank R. Jackson collection also include studio portraits, snapshots from his Dunbar High School years, a scrapbook of poetry, and beauty school objects belonging to Mrs. Florence Jackson.  The collection was donated to the museum in 2009 by Carole A. Hyman (Mr. Jackson’s niece).