Dr. Eric R. Jackson, born in Gary, Indiana, received his BS from Ball State University, in Muncie, Indiana, where he graduated in 1988 with a major in American History and minors in Political Science and Afro-American Studies. After a short stint working for the Indiana General Assembly, he enrolled in the Graduate History Program at the University of Cincinnati, focusing on Early American History. Other areas of graduate research included the history of African American life in the United States and early Latin American History. He completed his doctorate in 2000, using an interdisciplinary approach of history and education. His dissertation examined the educational history of African Americans in Indianapolis, Indiana during the first half of the twentieth century.

     At Northern Kentucky University, Dr. Jackson teaches courses in Early American History, Race Relations, the History of New South, as well as survey classes in African American History/Studies and American History. He is an associate member of the Institute for Freedom Studies, the Department of History and Geography Liaison to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, and servers on the Executive Committee for the Urban Center for Peace Research, Implementation, Development, and Education at the University of Cincinnati.

     Dr. Jackson has published in several journals in multiple fields such as: Educational Studies; Ohio History; Nature, Society, and Thought; and The Filson Club. He also has been involved in the publication of multi-volume works such as The Historical Encyclopedia of World Slavery and Organizing Black America: The Encyclopedia of African American Associations. Currently he is working on a project titled Who Speaks: A Documentary History of African American Peace Leaders in the United States, 1898-1960s and several articles on the educational history of African Americans in Indianapolis, Indiana.