By Dean Wells
The Robert H. Jackson Center has always been a fascinating source of local, regional and international history.
Even the building, itself, dips back into the past, and helps the modern historical center tell stories to its audience.
do a complete overhaul of the audio-visual and lighting. The theater can hold
up to 200 people and is used by the community for a wide array of events
including town halls, candidate debates and performances by outside groups.
One of those recent performances was Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,”
produced by the Mike Thornton Agency for two weeks in December, featuring
a cast of six professional actors (pictured).
Recent renovations to the facilities performance center—which has a history of its own—is providing guests with top-notch experiences.
The Jackson Center was established in Jamestown, NY in 2001, in the former Kent family mansion as the preeminent educational source to the career of world-renowned legal giant, Robert H. Jackson—a former United States Solicitor General, U.S. Attorney General, Associate Justice with the U.S. Supreme Court, and, most famously, the Chief U.S. Prosecutor for the Nuremberg Trials at the close of World War II.
Jackson’s local connection? He grew up in nearby Frewsburg and practiced law two blocks away from the Center’s current home.
According to Jackson Center President Kristan McMahon, the Italianate mansion, located at 305 East Fourth Street, was built in 1858-1859 by local businessman Alonzo Kent. After his death, the mansion was purchased by his cousin, Alba, and remained in the family until the early 1900s.
In 1919, the local Scottish Rite Masons purchased the Kent mansion for use as a lodge. The lodge remained a significant local Masonic landmark for decades.
The Masons were responsible for the construction of the current theater and banquet room.
“That area was originally a two-story barn,” McMahon said. “The Masons razed it and built the theater and banquet room underneath the theater.”
A recent six-figure upgrade has modernized that theater.
“We were fortunate enough to receive some grants from local foundations and the state of New York,” McMahon said. “It allowed us to do an overhaul of the audio-visual and lighting. The original work had been done over 25 years ago, and it was amazing, but it was really cobbled together.”
According to McMahon, the majority of the renovations were handled by Applied Audio out of Rochester, with help from a local electrician.
“It really is the heartbeat of all our programming,” McMahon said of the theater facility, which can hold up to 200 guests. “We hold our panels there, our program series, a small movie series. Community groups use it. We’ve had town halls, candidate debates, performances by outside groups.”
One of those recent performances was Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” produced by the Mike Thornton Agency for two weeks in December, featuring a cast of six professional actors.
Last year the Mike Thornton Agency did a radio play version of ‘It’s a Wonderful Life.’ “It was really well-received,” McMahon said. “We are always looking for different ways for the public to experience our spaces. Hosting those types of programs is really great way to introduce (the Center) to the public. It certainly made a lot of sense to us.”
This summer, the Jackson Center theater will host a movie series revolving around the Nuremberg Trials as part of the 80thanniversary of the war crimes tribunals.
The June film will be “Nathan-ism,” centered on Nathan Hilu, the son of Syrian Jewish immigrants to New York who was assigned to guard Nazi war criminals at Nuremberg. Hilu’s experience provided the impetus for a lifetime of art projects for the former guard.
July’s schedule film will be “Nuremberg: It’s Lessons for Today,” a documentary that uses captured Nazi footage to expose the atrocities of the concentration camps.
August will feature, “Filmmakers for the Prosecution,” a documentary about two brothers, Stuart and Budd Schulberg—both American officers—who were dispatched by the Army’s Office of Strategic Services to track down and salvage war footage that could be used as evidence of Nazi war crimes.
Upcoming January events at the Jackson Center include:
- “The President and the Justice: Harry S. Truman, Robert Jackson and the Pursuit of Justice at Nuremberg” on Jan. 9—a special program with Dr. Randy Sowell, Archivist at the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum.
- “25 Years of Asking Questions: Do we Still Believe in Free Speech?” on Jan. 9, featuring Aaron Saykin, an expert in defamation and free speech and head of Media First Amendment Practice from Buffalo.
- The “Living Voices: Hear My Voice” series, Jan. 13-14, discussing a young activist’s campaign for women’s suffrage.
For more information on the Robert H. Jackson Center’s history and events, visit the center’s website at robertjacksoncenter.org.