Jackson Family - First Generation

First Generation

The life of Joseph Walter Jackson began July 26, 1929 in Arkansas but he grew up in a California with his father, Samuel Jackson, a school teacher. At age 18 he moved to Indiana to be with his mother, Crystal Lee King, and to pursue his dreams of becoming a professional boxer. At age 20, Joseph married Katherine Screws, 17, and they immediately started a family. Even though he wanted to be a success in boxing it wasn’t a job for a family man, so he obtained a job as a crane operator with U.S. Steel. His family continued to blossom and grow steadily and in no time he and Katherine had a house full of 9 children. Joe Jackson always wanted to make it big and although he couldn’t in boxing or in his own short musical stent in the 1950s with the band The Falcons, he saw the talent in his children, starting with Tito and Tito's ability to play the guitar. Soon enough Joe Jackson formed a band of his sons Tito, Jermaine, and Jackie called The Jackson Brothers in 1963 and became their manager. After several years of doing local talent shows, Joseph enlarged the band to include Marlon and Michael, two of his younger sons, and then changed the name of the band to The Jackson 5 by 1966, remaining the group's manager. As their father he was a very strict disciplinarian and had an abusive nature which, at the time, seemed like the normal actions of a father; as their manager he enforced long practice sessions of singing and dancing in hopes of preparing them to make it big one day. Finally the group made a debut at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York, where they won amateur night and a Motown record contract. From then on the group enjoyed the fame Joseph Jackson had been longing for in his life. He continued to manage The Jackson 5 into stardom and after the band had many No. 1 hits on the Billboard hot singles charts; Joseph moved them to a mansion in Encino, California with his own hefty salary he had obtained as their full-time manager. After many years as a band and with Michael as lead singer, the group continued to churn out even more hits and wealth, but tensions grew and in 1979, Michael severed ties with his father/manager and went on to pursue a solo musical entertainment career. Four years later, in 1983, Michael's siblings fired Joseph Jackson as their manager. In 1993, Michael Jackson accused his father physical and mental abuse; a few of the other siblings confirmed this claim, but others denied it.

Katherine Jackson (née Kattie B. Screws) was born on May 4, 1930 in Barbour County, Alabama, the child of Prince Albert Screws (1907-1997) and Martha Mattie Upshaw (1907-1990). Unfortunately, Katherine Jackson was left with a permanent limp after acquiring polio syndrome in her childhood. She later recovered from her illness after moving with her family to East Chicago, Indiana, where she would remain until meeting her husband Joseph Jackson. The couple moved to Gary, Indiana, where they birthed and raised ten children. Katherine lived as stay-at-home mother, while Joseph worked as a crane operator at U.S. Steel. Throughout her life, Katherine remained a pious Jehovah's Witness and raised her children strictly, under the same indoctrinations. Also, as a talented pianist and vocalist who shared her talents with her children, she was later credited for being the foundation of her children's success. After her sons' rise to fame as The Jackson 5, she strongly supported her children and became the costume designer for their shows and performances. Some of the memorable moments of her unconditional support were seen when her son Michael was tried for molestation charges in 1993 and 2005. Katherine now lives in Encino, California where she cares for the children of her late son, Michael.