Robert Houghwout Jackson (1892-1954)
Spring Creek Township, Warren County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Lawyer & jurist. Chief U.S. prosecutor, Nuremberg war crimes trials in Germany after World War II. Associate Justice, U.S. Supreme Court, 1941-54; noted for his defense of civil liberties. Served in President Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration starting in 1934; U.S. Solicitor General, 1938-39, & Attorney General, 1940-41. Jackson was born on the family farm here in Spring Creek.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
On the family farm at this spot in 1892 was born Robert H. Jackson, one of the towering American lawyers of the twentieth century. He climbed from country attorney to U.S. Solicitor General, Attorney General, and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, where he was known for defending civil liberties. He is best remembered as the chief American prosecutor at the Nuremberg trials, where the Nazi leadership was held to account after World War II.
Why it matters
Jackson helped establish the principle that individuals — even heads of state — could be tried for crimes against humanity, a cornerstone of modern international law rooted in a Pennsylvania farm boy's career.
Plan your visit
NearbyMake a day of it — museums, food, and places to stay near this marker.
Attractions
- Panama Rocks14.3 mi away
Places data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Hours and details change — call ahead.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Robert H. Jackson
- · Franklin D. Roosevelt
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Cynthia Catlin Miller (1791-1883)
Sugar Grove Township, PA · est. 2019
From her home in the hills of Warren County, Cynthia Catlin Miller turned a family tradition of abolitionism into organized action, founding the Female Assisting Society and the Ladies' Fugitive Aid Society. The Miller Mansion sheltered freedom seekers on the Underground Railroad, and her groups supplied them with food and clothing. In 1854 she and her son Franklin hosted Frederick Douglass and other abolitionists at the Sugar Grove Convention.
Bainbridge Colby Monument
Village of Bemus Point, NY
Bainbridge Colby (1869–1950) was an American statesman remembered here in the lakeside village of Bemus Point, where he kept a home on Chautauqua Lake. A founder of the Progressive "Bull Moose" Party, he later served as the last Secretary of State under President Woodrow Wilson from 1920 to 1921, helping guide American diplomacy in the difficult aftermath of World War I. This modest monument honors him with the simple epitaph "Faithful Public Servant."
Col. Francis "Gabby" Gabreski (1919-2002)
Oil City, PA · est. 2011
Born in the oil-country town of Oil City to Polish immigrant parents, Francis "Gabby" Gabreski became one of America's greatest fighter pilots. Flying in World War II and again in the Korean War, he ranked among the nation's leading aces and, as a squadron commander, passed his hard-won combat tactics on to the pilots under him. His skill and valor earned him high decorations from the United States and its allies.
John Nelson (1917-1959)
Lawrence Park Township, PA · est. 2004
In the anthracite-and-industry country of northwestern Pennsylvania, Erie's sprawling General Electric works were a union stronghold, and John Nelson rose to lead the United Electrical Workers' Local 506 through the volatile 1940s and 1950s. At the height of the postwar Red Scare, he was accused of Communist ties and became the first union leader GE dismissed, in 1953, even as his union fought for him in the courts. He died young at 42, his short life bound up in one of labor's hardest decades.