William "Elmo" Jackson '51
Allentown native William "Elmo" Jackson '51 lives among the legends of the city’s sports history. While at Allen High, (now William Allen High School) he competed at the state level in basketball, track and football and was twice named to the All-State team for Pennsylvania. He was awarded a scholarship to Muhlenberg and also continued to shine athletically, serving on freshman teams as a tailback in football and as a guard in basketball. Muhlenberg honored his illustrious career in both sports through induction into the Mules’ Hall of Fame in 1999.
Jackson underwent a quintessential Muhlenberg rite-of-passage when he was called before the Freshman Tribunal in October 1947 for failing to carry pipe cleaners and matches, a Freshman Regulation requiring that the items be produced on demand for any upperclassman. He is quoted in the Muhlenberg Weekly as having felt at the time that he had gotten “a rough deal at first” but had come to realize that this sort of tradition was widespread across campuses and part of the fabric of the college experience.
Following graduation in 1951, Jackson was offered a tryout with the Cleveland Browns, but although he attended training camp, he decided that his football career was over. After a four-year stint in the Air Force, and with the strength of his Muhlenberg pre-med training, he went on to obtain a doctorate in biology.
His career spanned 20 years working at Philadelphia General Hospital as a microbiologist and another 10 years specializing in forensics for the city’s police crime lab. Dr. Jackson passed away in 2008.
