Greenfielders remember Jackson’s campaign launch here in ‘87

Many in Adair County still remember the day in March 1987 when the Rev. Jesse Jackson, a civil rights leader and two-time presidential candidate, opened the doors to his 1988 presidential campaign headquarters in Greenfield. Now, those same residents are mourning his loss.

Jackson died Feb. 17 following a battle with a rare neurological disorder known as progressive supranuclear palsy. He was 84.

The Free Press reported March 25, 1987, that the previous Thursday, Jackson also visited Mount Ayr and Corning. But Greenfield was the “center of attention” for the presidential hopeful, who spoke on the square before members of the national media. He had previously announced his candidacy at the Ralph Mitchell farm on the edge of Greenfield.

“It would not be correct to say that the eyes of the world were focused on Greenfield last Thursday. But it would be accurate to say that an important segment of the president-watching press of the nation was on hand to see the Rev. Jesse Jackson snip the ribbon that opened his exploratory office a block north of the Greenfield square,” the newspaper reported.

As head of the National Rainbow Coalition, Jackson said he came to Greenfield because the people here “care about the destiny of our nation.” He said they represented the hope in America and the “redemption of the soul of America.” Referring to the farm crisis of the 1980s, he said they were the “victim of the worst economic violence and yet a champion of the best in human spirit.”

Jay Howe opened the program that day and wrote about it in 2023.

“It all made quite an impact! We deliberately juxtaposed Jesse Jackson from South Chicago into rural, white farm country Iowa; and it worked well to launch him into national viability, into winning primaries in a number of states,” Howe wrote. “The first African American to rise as a viable presidential candidate.”

Jackson’s decision to base his campaign in Greenfield stemmed from a conversation he had in 1984 with national farm leader Dixon Terry of Greenfield.

“The 1980s saw many family-scale farms in deep financial trouble because of high borrowing costs and commodity prices below costs of production,” Howe recalled. He and Evelyn Davis went on to co-chair Jackson’s Iowa campaign committee.

For a time, Greenfield served as both Jackson’s Iowa headquarters and his national headquarters. Howe said Jackson’s campaign message focusing on farmers was designed to reverse the “emptying out” of rural Iowa, exporting profit, wealth and youth from rural communities and interests.

The Iowa Jackson campaign was led by office manager Carmel Gray, media coordinator Diane Weiland, Iowa campaign manager John Norris and farm policy contact Dixon Terry. Willard Olesen served on the committee as Jackson’s “right-hand man,” often preceding him at speaking engagements to ensure events were set up correctly and to organize additional outreach opportunities for the reverend.

Olesen and his wife, Susie, said this week that the friendship he shared with Jackson “was like no other.” Olesen and Jackson also made pre-primary trips together to the West and East coasts.

On one East Coast trip, the two became stranded at a hotel during a snowstorm and resorted to making calls for interviews with radio stations back in Iowa. Olesen helped Jackson decide which topics to address.

“It was so uplifting to be a part of that — to see the people be a part of the support group that made all of that happen. I not only saw those people working hard, committed and volunteering, doing office work, but I was fortunate enough to spend quite a bit of time with Reverend Jackson on his downtime or on his planning time, and it was very uplifting,” Willard Olesen said.

In terms of cementing and maintaining rights for people of all colors, women and others, Jackson “never missed a beat,” Olesen said.

Susie Olesen remembers how hard Jackson worked to convince voters that Iowa farmers and factory workers from his native Chicago had much in common.

“Prior to that, the color of one’s skin got in the way of those coalitions, and he brought those two groups together and taught us what we had in common. That was quite remarkable,” she said. “Wherever he went, he tried to bring people together. He was just a regular guy who wanted to make the world better.”