J. B. Jackson
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John Brinckerhoff "Brinck" Jackson (September 25, 1909 – August 29, 1996) was a writer, publisher, instructor, and
sketch artist ''Sketch Artist'', also known as ''The Sketch Artist'', is a 1992 American Television film, made-for-television Crime film, crime-thriller film written by Michael Angeli and directed by Phedon Papamichael and starring Jeff Fahey, Sean Young an ...
in
landscape design Landscape design is an independent profession and a design and art tradition, practiced by landscape designers, combining nature and culture. In contemporary practice, landscape design bridges the space between landscape architecture and garde ...
.
Herbert Muschamp Herbert Mitchell Muschamp (November 28, 1947 – October 2, 2007) was an American architecture critic. Early years Born in Philadelphia, Muschamp described his childhood home life as follows: "The living room was a secret. A forbidden zone. ...
, architecture critic of the ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
,'' stated that J. B. Jackson was "America's greatest living writer on the forces that have shaped the land this nation occupies." He was influential in broadening the perspective on the "vernacular" landscape.


Early life

Brinck was born on September 25, 1909, in
Dinard Dinard (; , ; Gallo: ''Dinard'') is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department, Brittany, northwestern France. Dinard is on the Côte d'Émeraude of Brittany. Its beaches and mild climate make it a holiday destination, and this has resul ...
, France to American parents. Jackson spent his early school years with them in
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, and in Europe. In 1923, at age 14, he was enrolled at the elite
Institut Le Rosey Institut Le Rosey (), commonly referred to as Le Rosey or simply Rosey, is a private school, private boarding school in Rolle, Switzerland. It was founded in 1880 by Paul-Émile Carnal on the site of the 14th-century Château du Rosey in the tow ...
in Rolle,
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
, where he became fluent in both French and German. He savored an environment of mountains, meadows, and forests, but also absorbed the human face of the Swiss cities and cantons. He would later draw upon his travels abroad in writings, sketches, and watercolors. He attended
Eaglebrook School Eaglebrook School is an independent junior boarding and day school for boys in grades six through nine. It is located in Deerfield, Massachusetts, United States. It is on the Pocumtuck Range near Deerfield Academy, and sited on an campus wh ...
,
Choate Choate may refer to: Places Canada * Choate, British Columbia, a locality in the Fraser Canyon of British Columbia, Canada United States * Choate Mental Health and Development Center, a psychiatric hospital in Anna, Illinois * Choate Rosemary Hal ...
, and
Deerfield Academy Deerfield Academy (often called Deerfield or DA) is an Independent school, independent College-preparatory school, college-preparatory boarding and day school in Deerfield, Massachusetts. Founded in 1797, it is one of the oldest secondary schoo ...
in New England and spent summers on his uncle's farm in
New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...
. Jackson's experiences in college were influential in his approach to the shaping of the landscape. He attended the Experimental College of the
University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...
. Jackson gained an insight into architecture and planning from the social criticism of
Lewis Mumford Lewis Mumford (October 19, 1895 – January 26, 1990) was an American historian, sociologist, philosopher of technology, and literary critic. Particularly noted for his study of cities and urban architecture, he had a broad career as a ...
and
Oswald Spengler Oswald Arnold Gottfried Spengler (29 May 1880 – 8 May 1936) was a German polymath whose areas of interest included history, philosophy, mathematics, science, and art, as well as their relation to his organic theory of history. He is best know ...
's revelation in ''
Decline of the West ''The Decline of the West'' (; more literally, ''The Downfall of the Occident'' or even more literally, "The Going-Under of the Evening Lands"; some of the poetry of the original is lost in translation) is a two-volume work by Oswald Spengler. Th ...
'' that "landscapes reflected the culture of the people that were living there." In 1929, Jackson entered
Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...
. His instructor Irving Babbitt was influential in Jackson's opposition to modernism. Jackson's taste for
Baroque style The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from the early 17th century until the 1750s. It followed Renaissance art and Mannerism and preceded the Rococo (i ...
and history began to blossom at this time. He believed that the zest of the Baroque style was the essence of the connection between humankind and nature. While attending Harvard, Jackson wrote articles for the ''
Harvard Advocate ''The Harvard Advocate'', the art and literary magazine of Harvard College, is the oldest continuously published college art and literary magazine in the United States. The magazine (published then in newspaper format) was founded by Charles ...
.'' His career of writing about the landscape began here.


Career

Following graduation from Harvard in 1932, Jackson took courses in architecture, writing, and drawing. Each would later serve as the bases for essays, lectures, and articles for his magazine, ''Landscape.'' He wandered through Europe in 1934 to 1935 studying Baroque style. While in Europe, Jackson began to write articles critical of
Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...
and published them in '' The American Review'' and ''
Harper's ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the United States. ''Harper's Magazine'' has ...
.'' His interest in politics began to be expressed in his works. During the mid-1930s, Jackson published essays in American literary magazines and a novel, with his photograph that appeared on the cover of a 1938 ‘Saturday Review’. In 1938, his novel, titled ''Saints in Summertime,'' was published. The book revealed the infiltration of Nazism and the soldiers' attraction to energy emanating from power.


Military service

After briefly trying his hand at ranching in New Mexico, Jackson enlisted in the army, in 1940. As an officer during war, he studied books to gain insight on the geography of the location. He deciphered code, studied maps, and learned the terrain. He read books by French geographers— Pierre Deffontaines,
Paul Vidal de la Blache Paul Vidal de La Blache (, Pézenas, Hérault, 22 January 1845 – Tamaris-sur-Mer, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, 5 April 1918) was a French geographer. He is considered to be the founder of modern French geography and also the founder of the Fr ...
, and
Albert Demangeon Albert Demangeon (13 June 1872 – 25 July 1940) was a Professor of social geography at the Sorbonne in Paris for many years. He was an educator, a prolific author, and in the 1930s was the leading French academic in the field of human geography. ...
. He was a part of the
Ritchie Boys The Ritchie Boys, part of the U.S. Military Intelligence Service (MIS) at the War Department, were an organization of soldiers in World War II with sizable numbers of German and Austrian recruits who were used primarily for interrogation of pri ...
and his language skills were used to serve the United States Army in understanding issues on the European front. It was at this time that he developed his interpretation that the shaping and devastation of the landscape came from the necessities for human existence. Jackson believed that human history brought about human geography. The landscape was the product of humankind's effort to "recreate heaven on earth". As the war ended, Jackson began to contemplate publishing a magazine of geography.


''Landscape'' magazine

In the spring of 1951, he published the first issue of ''
Landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or human-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes th ...
,'' with the subtitle "Human Geography of the Southwest;" this was later dropped. Jackson served as the magazine's publisher and editor until 1968. At first, Jackson argued, quite literally, for a lofty – an airborne – view of the world, reveling in the perspective of aerial photographs. But Jackson's work, which dominated the first five issues of the magazine, was grounded in what he would later call the vernacular: an interest in the commonplace or everyday landscape. Jackson expressed an innate confidence in the ability of people of small means to make significant changes in their surroundings. In an opening essay, ''The Need of Being Versed in Country Things,'' Jackson states that "It is from the air that the true relationship between the natural and the human landscape is first clearly revealed. The peaks and canyons lose much of their impressiveness when seen from above. What catches our eye and arouses our interest is not the sandy washes and the naked rocks, but the evidences of man." His writings allowed him to raise questions and present controversial statements especially in reference to humans and their role in shaping the landscape. Jackson's collected essays have been published in seven books, in addition to ''A Sense of Place, a Sense of Time,'' which won the 1995
PEN PEN may refer to: * (National Ecological Party), former name of the Brazilian political party Patriota (PATRI) * PEN International, a worldwide association of writers ** English PEN, the founding centre of PEN International ** PEN America, located ...
prize for essays.


Teaching

Jackson was influential in the lives of many students, colleagues, admirers, and friends. He taught landscape history courses as adjunct professor at Harvard University's
Graduate School of Design Graduate may refer to: Education * The subject of a graduation, i.e. someone awarded an academic degree ** Alumni, a former student who has either attended or graduated from an institution * High school graduate, someone who has completed high ...
beginning in 1969 and at the College of Environmental Design and the Department of Geography at the
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
. He ended teaching classes in the late 1970s. Since then he has given lectures, especially on themes pertaining to urban issues. Jackson states that "We are not spectators; all human landscape is not a work of art." He felt strongly that the purpose of landscape is to provide a place for living and working and leisure. The
Association of American Geographers The American Association of Geographers (AAG) is a non-profit scientific and educational society aimed at advancing the understanding, study, and importance of geography and related fields. Its headquarters is located in Washington, D.C. The ...
established a Jackson Prize, to "reward American geographers who write books about the United States which convey the insights of professional geography in language that is interesting and attractive to a lay audience."


Cultural Landscapes Studies

As a scholar, historian and writer, John B. Jackson greatly influenced the development and trajectory of contemporary cultural landscape studies in America. In the introduction to ''Everyday America: Cultural Landscape Studies after J.B. Jackson'' (2003), editors Chris Wilson and Paul Groth note that the term '
cultural landscape Cultural landscape is a term used in the fields of geography, ecology, and heritage studies, to describe a symbiosis of human activity and environment. As defined by the World Heritage Committee, it is the "cultural properties hatrepresent the c ...
' rarely appeared in print prior to the 1950s. But between 1959 and 1990, they note, writers across disciplines have come to realize the importance of the built environment.
"More surprising," they claim, "was the discovery of everyday built spaces as significant evidence of social groups, power relations and culture by historians, American studies scholars, literary critics, and a growing number of anthropologists, sociologists and social theorists." It is a "way of thinking," they continue, with "inherent contradictions and multiple approaches.""Introduction," ''Everyday America: Cultural Landscape Studies after J.B. Jackson'' (2003), ed. Chris Wilson and Paul Groth
The history of landscape study and, more broadly, place and regional studies, illustrates the convergences with some of the histories here, both across discipline and nation. In the United States a popular fascination with vibrant architecture, communities, and landscapes of everyday America has been expressed by writers ranging from
Walt Whitman Walter Whitman Jr. (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist, and journalist; he also wrote two novels. He is considered one of the most influential poets in American literature and world literature. Whitman incor ...
to
Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Fau ...
, and by painter
Winslow Homer Winslow Homer (February 24, 1836 – September 29, 1910) was an American landscape painter and illustrator, best known for his marine subjects. He is considered one of the foremost painters of 19th-century America and a preeminent figure in ...
through early-twentieth artists of common landscapes. The
New Deal The New Deal was a series of wide-reaching economic, social, and political reforms enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1938, in response to the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depressi ...
writers and painters explored a strong regionalist theme, which was also connected to the architectural and urban criticism of
Lewis Mumford Lewis Mumford (October 19, 1895 – January 26, 1990) was an American historian, sociologist, philosopher of technology, and literary critic. Particularly noted for his study of cities and urban architecture, he had a broad career as a ...
. The concern for
environmental degradation Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, referring respectively to all living and non-living things occurring naturally and the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism ...
caused by human activities was another American theme, spurred particularly by the Vermont writer
George Perkins Marsh George Perkins Marsh (March 15, 1801July 23, 1882), an American diplomat and philologist, is considered by some to be America's first environmentalist and by recognizing the irreversible impact of man's actions on the earth, a precursor to the s ...
. Comparison of American trends to cultural landscape studies in other places is illuminating. Wilson and Groth write that German cultural landscape studies were primarily based on scientific categorizations of regions and settlements, with strong cross-disciplinary ties to geology and economic analysis. Historical accounts of landscape influenced British cultural studies, but the study of cultural landscapes also was strongly based on field observation and map interpretations. In France, the emphasis on unique culture and geography shaped the field, especially in ideas of ''genre de vie'' (ways of life) and ''pays'' (social regions), ideas that have had particular resonance in American landscape studies. "By World War II," the editors remark, "each French region had its own well-written guidebooks to local physical and social landscapes" (4). Geographer
Carl Sauer Carl Ortwin Sauer (December 24, 1889 – July 18, 1975) was an American geographer. Sauer was a professor of geography at the University of California at Berkeley from 1923 until becoming professor emeritus in 1957. He has been called "the dea ...
, who had studied in Germany and had long tenure as the chair of the Geography department at Berkeley, in 1925 wrote the now classic definition of a cultural landscape: "The cultural landscape is fashioned from the natural landscape by a cultural group. Culture is the agent, the natural area is the medium, and cultural landscape is the result."


Personal life

During the height of his career, Jackson lived just southwest of
Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , literal translation, lit. "Holy Faith") is the capital city, capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Santa Fe County. With over 89,000 residents, Santa Fe is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, fourt ...
, near an historic property known as ''
El Rancho de las Golondrinas El Rancho de las Golondrinas (The Ranch of the Swallows), a historic ''rancho'' and now a living history museum, is strategically located on what was once the ''Camino Real'', the Royal Road that extended from Mexico City to Santa Fe. The ranc ...
'' (The Ranch of the Swallows). Jackson died on August 29, 1996, at St. Vincent Hospital in Santa Fe. He was 86 and lived in
La Cienega, New Mexico La Cienega is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, United States. It is part of the Santa Fe, New Mexico, metropolitan statistical area. The population was 3,007 at the 2000 census. La Cienega is located on the site ...
.


Awards and honors

John Brinckerhoff Jackson received the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay for ''A Sense of Place, a Sense of Time'' in 1995. J.B. Jackson received the Silver Star for exemplary service in WWII.


Published works

Jackson's published works include: * ''Landscapes: Selected Writings of J. B. Jackson'' (1970) * ''American Space: The Centennial Years, 1865–1876'' (1972) * ''The Interpretation of Ordinary Landscapes: Geographical Essays'' edited with D. W. Meinig (1979) * ''The Necessity for Ruins and Other Topics'' (1980) * ''Discovering the Vernacular Landscape'' (1984) * ''A Sense of Place, a Sense of Time'' (1994) * ''Landscape in Sight: Looking at America'' (1997)


Quotes

*"The older I grow and the longer I look at landscapes and seek to understand them, the more convinced I am that their beauty is not simply an aspect but their very essence and that that beauty derives from the human presence." *"Let us hope that the merits and charm of the highway strip are not so obscure but they will be accepted by a wider public." *"The bicycle had, and still has, a humane, almost classical moderation in the kind of pleasure it offers. It is the kind of machine that a Hellenistic Greek might have invented and ridden. It does no violence to our normal reactions: It does not pretend to free us from our normal environment." *"The way a city grows, the direction in which it spreads, is a factor not so much of zoning or real estate activity or land values but of highways." *"Ruins provide the incentive for restoration, and for a return to origins. There has to be an interim of death or rejection before there can be renewal and reform."


References


External links


Inventory of the J.B. Jackson Papers, 1909-1996
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, J. B. 1909 births 1996 deaths People from Dinard American architecture writers 20th-century American educators American garden writers American landscape and garden designers American landscape architects Writers from Santa Fe, New Mexico 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American male writers American nature writers American male non-fiction writers Ritchie Boys American expatriates in France University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Alumni of Institut Le Rosey Deerfield Academy alumni Choate Rosemary Hall alumni Harvard Advocate alumni Harvard Graduate School of Design faculty PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award winners