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Walter Jackson Obituary
Chapel Hill
Walter Anderson Jackson, III, of Chapel Hill, NC passed away peacefully at Roanoke Memorial Hospital on February 20, 2015 as a result of injuries suffered in an automobile collision.
Born March 21, 1950 in Memphis, TN, Walter was the only child of the late Naomi Wegley Jackson and Walter Anderson Jackson, Jr. After graduating magna cum laude with a B.A. from Duke University, he went on to obtain his Ph.D. in History at Harvard University. He joined History Department at N. C. State University in 1983 and had a distinguished career as a tenured professor specializing in U. S. intellectual history and black/white relations. He held fellowships from the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for Afro-American Studies and Charles Warren Center for American History at Harvard, the Institute for Advanced Studies at Princeton, the Virginia Center for the Humanities, and the Mellon Faculty at Stanford.
Walter was the author of more than twenty-five publications on intellectual history, American race relations, and the civil rights movement. His book Gunnar Myrdal and America's Conscience: Social Engineering and Racial Liberalism, 1938-1987 won the Anisfield-Wolf Prize in Cultural Diversity and the Gustavus Myers Human Rights Award. As one of the world's leading scholars on the life and work of Swedish sociologist and Nobel laureate Gunnar Myrdal, Walter was recently featured on PBS program "American Denial." At the time of his death, he was working at the Virginia Center for the Humanities, completing a double biography entitled Intoxicating Honesty: Gunnar and Alva Myrdal in Sweden and America, 1898-1945.
Walter is remembered by all who knew him as a kind, compassionate and brilliant man. He adored his wife Rachida and daughter Sarah, who survive him.
A funeral service will be held at 3:00 PM on Saturday, March 7 at the Chapel of the Cross, Chapel Hill, NC.
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Memories and Condolences
for Walter Jackson
mats
September 11, 2025
Rest in peace, funny and interesting lecturers
Hedvig Ekerwald
February 22, 2025
Dear Rachida and Sarah,
Your husband and father is still close to me! I wish you the best!
Greetings from Sweden
Hedda Ekerwald
Maribel Morey
March 11, 2015
I long had admired Walter's scholarship on Gunnar Myrdal by the time that we had the chance to meet in person in 2012. Then, I was an eager doctoral student writing on Gunnar Myrdal's An American Dilemma and reading through the Myrdals' papers at the Labour Movement Archives and Library in Stockholm. By chance, Walter and I overlapped visits at the archives. He reached out and invited me to lunch at nearby Hurtigs Konditori, and I forever will treasure that moment. As a senior scholar, he was kind and generous toward a junior scholar such as myself encroaching in his field! He was a model of inter-generational kindness in the academy and I hope to follow in his example. It goes without saying that I mourn his passing.
Syd Nathans
March 7, 2015
Dear Rachida, Walter was a man in the mold of his Duke mentor, Harold Parker--gentle, brilliant, soft spoken, witty, a model of integrity for all who knew him. He had a novelist's way with words, a capacious intelligence, subtlety beyond belief. It was a great joy for me, as for him, when you came into his life. I witnessed his transformation as new worlds, new love, and renewed faith in love, opened to him. He was, to me, the dearest and most devoted of friends, whom it was my good fortune to know, learn from, and treasure, for decades. My heart goes out to you and Sarah.
Syd Nathans
Cheryl Kirk-Duggan
March 6, 2015
Dearest Rachida and Sarah,
Know that many are praying for you. I met Walter through discussing research with him, and in dialog with that research we team taught a course. What a delight. All who knew Walter celebrate his brilliant intellect and his gentle spirit: a gentleman scholar if ever there was one. He was a terrific person, great pedagogue and researcher. We will miss him. Praying for you and his friends, that you will give yourselves time to grieve and that you will continue to savor the good memories. In faith and hope
Michael McElreath
March 6, 2015
Walter has been a good friend, mentor, and fellow parishioner to me for 15 years. I am deeply saddened. Peace to Rachida and Sarah.
March 5, 2015
This is such a great loss! We have wonderful memories, and will always cherish Walter's writings.
With much love to Rashida and Sarah,
Derek and Sissela Bok
Lars Gogman
March 5, 2015
We at the Labour Movement Archives and Library in Stockholm feel sorrow.
Walter was for us a sign of spring every time he contacted us and it was always with pleasure that we met with him every summer.
Maria Boman
Catalina Benavente
Maria Boman
Jenny Edlund
Roger Jnsson
Kalle Laajala
Lale Svensson
Lars Gogman
Kaj Folster Myrdal
March 5, 2015
The call from Rashida about Walters death was a schock. As daugthter to Alva and Gunnar Myrdal, it had been a wonderful experience to be able to follow Walters research and analytical curiosity here in Sweden. His humble and friendly way to contact relatives and connections for his research will be remembered by many here in Sweden.Our thoughts go to Rashida and Sarah who were such good companions during the summers here in Sweden.
Stellan Andersson
March 4, 2015
I just got the message about Walter's tragic death. It feels unreal to know that he is no longer with us. I got to know Walter in 1980 when he was working on his thesis on Gunnar Myrdal's An American Dilemma. Since then, we have had regular contacts. I wrote to him right after the movie American Denial had been shown and praised him for his very interesting comments.
I will miss Walter tremendously.
Stellan Andersson,
Retired archivist at the Labor Movements Archives and Library in Stockholm, Sweden
James Kirkley
March 4, 2015
Dr. Jackson: I am very sorry for your loss. My prayers are with you and your daughter.
Jade Berry-James
March 3, 2015
I'm asking God to uplift your beautiful wife and amazing daughter as we celebrate your life and legacy. peace be with you!
March 3, 2015
Dr. Jackson,my prayers are with you and your family.
C. F. Brown, Shaw University
April Barner
March 3, 2015
Dr. Jackson,
I am so sorrowed to hear of this passing. You, your daughter and your family are in my prayers.
Kim Leathers
March 3, 2015
Dr. Rachida Jackson, I am saddened to learn of your husband's untimely passing. From his warm, caring obituary, he is someone I would have liked to have known. Please know that you and your daughter have our sincere condolences and continuing prayers for God's sustaining grace and peace at this time.
A Happy Father's Day
Larry Jackson
March 2, 2015
My thoughts are with you Rachida and Sarah. God bless you and hold you tight... Peaceful rest, Walter.
John Reed
March 2, 2015
Walter was a gentleman -- a gentle man -- and a scholar. Both are important, but the first is rarer. He will be sorely missed.
Kwesi Brookins
March 2, 2015
There are some people who one would always like to spend more time with. Walter was one of those. I never forget the glow in his face and sparkle in his eyes when his daughter, Sarah, came into his and Rachida's life. I will miss you my friend.
Mike Shinn
March 2, 2015
Walter was one of the most gentle and humble people I have known. He was a genuine scholar who loved his students and his profession. His family has lost a gentle and loving husband and father while the rest of us have lost a true friend and humanitarian.
March 2, 2015
Dr. Rachida Jackson,
Please know that my prayers are with you and your daughter at this difficult time.
Love Mrs. Bessie Lewis
Office of Academic Affairs
Shaw University
Jennifer Hallman
March 2, 2015
Without Dr. Jackson, I would never have had the courage to attend graduate school or have every made it through. He believed in me and was a constant source of encouragement. My life would be completely different without my mentor and my friend. I will miss you greatly and will forever hold dear the memories I have of you. I cannot thank you enough for everything. The NCSU community will miss you greatly.
Cheryl Favale
March 1, 2015
Dr. Jackson was one of the MOST DECENT and humble human beings I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. He sincerely cared about his students and always fostered thoughtful conversation. I am truly saddened for his family, for N.C. State, and for the world community. RIP Dr. Jackson.
Vernon Burton
March 1, 2015
Walter was a great historian, and even better friend. He made our profession a better one. Vernon Burton
March 1, 2015
Rachida and Sarah I am so very sorry for your loss
Silver Maple and Red Wolf at a tribe function...
Ted Bohlin
March 1, 2015
Walter was a loving, caring father to Sarah - always willing to join in whatever activity the "tribe" was into, including zip lining into a lake in the April rain, rock climbing, disc golf - all in the last year! Red Wolf will be greatly missed by us all.
Bob Brinkmeyer
March 1, 2015
Who will ever forget that cackle of a laugh? I have many fond memories of Walter at Duke and particularly at Wilson House, the residence hall where he was certainly one of the most gentle of souls. For all his graciousness, he also possessed one of the sharpest minds amongst his wide group of friends--such a serious scholar, even then. I learned a lot from him during those college days and then later, over the years, through his impeccable scholarship. I'm deeply saddened by his passing.
March 1, 2015
I am so sad to hear about Walter's death. He was a wonderful man, sweet and brilliant with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. My condolences to his family.
Kristen Overbey
February 28, 2015
May his memory be a blessing, amen.
Grant Barnes
February 28, 2015
Walter was a close and dear friend since our Harvard grad school years together, and we renewed our friendship in Princeton, Los Angeles, Seattle, Uppsala, Chapel Hill, Durham, London, back in Boston/Cambridge. My condolences to Rashida and Sarah and to his colleagues at NTSU and in the American intellectual history profession, which he enriched with rich and well-defined contributions.
David Green
February 28, 2015
Walter was a remarkably kind, gentle and brilliant soul, one of my first American friends when I came to Duke University in the 1970s. I am very sorry to hear about this accident and his untimely departure. Peace to all.
George Dameron
February 28, 2015
I am deeply saddened. I extend my deepest sympathy to his wife and daugher. Though I grew up in Memphis as well, I first met Walter at Duke. We continued our friendship as graduate students at Harvard. He was a truly gentle, brillant man, and I mourn his passing.
Richard King
February 28, 2015
Walter was a great friend, wonderful historian and involved teacher. Kindness and generosity marked his way of dealing with others. We will miss him terribly.
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