Did you know Red Jackman? A well-known Villager back in the day, he’s the tall white guy on the left in this iconic photograph from a series taken in 1965 by photojournalist Ivan Massar.
Of all the images on display again during this 50th anniversary year of the March from Selma to Montgomery, on March 21st, 1965, “1776 Encore” has always been my personal favorite; partly because I’ve always suspected, with its sense of history and sheer bravado, the eye-catching re-enactment was probably Red’s own idea—but also because I actually knew both him and the photographer.
When I lived on West 4th Street, from 1955 thru’ 1959, I used to hang out in Louie’s in Sheridan Square—along with a typical local bunch of aspiring writers, actors (Steve McQueen among them) and activists of one sort and another—including Red. Already he was an ardent young socialist—very daring in those red-baiting, post-McCarthy times—and reveled in political discussions! He was also charming, articulate and fun—and had his 15 minutes of fame as a winner on the TV quiz show, the Sixty-Four Thousand Dollar Question.
When I came back to the Village, in 1965, Louie’s was long gone, replaced by the Parker House, but Red was still here, still charming, and much involved in the civil rights movement. And in 1970 we ran into one another again on the Mall in Washington when, typical Villagers that we were, we were both there at a demonstration against the War in Vietnam. After that I lost track of him.
In Ivan’s case I had known and admired his work for decades—in the sixties, as a photo editor on the NYT Book Review, I had actually assigned him to photograph John Updike for us—but only recently, through mutual friends, had we had a chance to get to know one another personally. That was when I discovered that he had never known the identity of the red-haired guy in his famous photo from the March, and was able to ‘introduce’ him to Red.
It was then that I went Googling and found that Red was alive and well on Staten Island, and that in 2010 the Staten Island Advance had written a lively profile on him entitled Stapleton Resident: Captain Ahab Incarnate (http://www.silive.com/northshore/index.ssf/2010/07/stapleton_resident_captain_aha.html).
Because Ivan lived in Massachusetts, I didn’t see him very often, but on his occasional visits to New York we always had a good time sharing reminiscences, and I thought how great it would be if we could link up with Red, who I suspected would get a big kick out of the connection. I felt sure that the charismatic Red’s lively mind and sense of humor would appeal to Ivan, and that Red would appreciate the beauty and humanitarian focus of Ivan’s photography,
I promised myself I would see if I could reach Red, but I underestimated the time we had left; sadly, Ivan and Red both died last year, just months apart. They really should have been with us for this anniversary year, to hear the words of appreciation for those who were on the front line in 1965. But what really matters, of course, is that they had both made a point of being there back then—two courageous, caring, young white men in the right place at the right time.
Red died on Sept.17 last year, and Ivan the previous February. To see the more of Ivan’s images, visit http://www.ivanmassar.com .
