ALPHA RHO BROTHER RUDOLPH ELLSWORTH JACKSON (Fall 1954) ENTERS OMEGA CHAPTER OF ALPHA PHI ALPHA

Brother Rudolph Ellsworth Jackson, a former President of Alpha Rho Chapter and one of 14 Morehouse Men initiated into the Fraternity on December 9, 1954, entered our Omega Chapter on August 19, 2021. He was 86 years old. Born in Richmond, Virginia and a Biology major at Morehouse, Brother Jackson was one of the first African American doctors at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and was a pioneer in the research and treatment of sickle cell disease. He spent his career working to enhance the education and treatment of children and families affected by the debilitating disease at St. Jude and later at the National Institute of Health.

Pictured above: Brother Jackson featured at far right in the 1957 "Torch" yearbook -- his senior year at Morehouse College.

When St. Jude opened in 1962, the late actor Danny Thomas vowed the hospital would treat patients regardless of race, religion or ability to pay. Dr. Rudolph Jackson was one of the first black doctors hired. St. Jude provided the following profile of Brother Jackson in February 2019:

www.stjude.org

While he was finishing his training in Philadelphia, Dr. Rudolph Jackson fielded an offer to move 1,000 miles and begin practicing at a fledgling, low-paying hospital in the South where he would be one of the first black physicians. Suffice it to say he had some reservations. First off, the job was in Memphis. The year was 1968. As Jackson later put it, in the most understated of ways, “A lot of things were going on down there.”