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Leon Jackson

@drleonj.bsky.social
2.7K followers 626 following 7.3K posts

Professor @ USC. I write about African American life in early national and antebellum Boston. My posts are my own opinions and do not reflect those of my employer.

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Leon Jackson @drleonj.bsky.social · 7h
For #ThrowbackThursday, here’s a snap of my previous dog, Casey. Case was my Covid-era rescue, a sweet and mellow flat-coated retriever. She was perfect 🖤
A shaggy and very sweet flat coated retriever. Fuzzy and black with kind eyes and a lolly tongue. She’s sitting on a sidewalk in front of a yard with flowers.
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Leon Jackson @drleonj.bsky.social · 7h
Move over, Most Wonderful Machine; here comes A Perfect Machine! Congratulations to @ehhawley.bsky.social on a perfect book! #bookhistory
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Leon Jackson @drleonj.bsky.social · 22h
Time for this dog’s person to hit the hay. Let’s try again tomorrow.
My ridiculous bkack retriever mix, fast asleep in her dog bed, upside down, three legs in the air, one folded demurely.
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Leon Jackson @drleonj.bsky.social · 22h
In the past month, I've taken notes on 173 boxes of court records from the Adlow Collection that I copied this summer. I have just 43 left to go. Then it's on to the next collection. And the next, and the next. The work definitely drags at moments, but the end result should hopefully be worth it! 🗃️
This is a writ of attachment from 1799. It commands a constable to confiscate property of, or in lieu of property, the person who owes a debt that is about to be litigated at the initiative of a creditor. It takes the form of a rectangular printed document with blank spaces for the name of plaintiff, defendant, amount owed, and so on, which are completed in hand. The writ is badly water damaged and is mostly illegible.
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Leon Jackson @drleonj.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Happy #WontLookWedesday from Tulip!
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Melanie Walsh @mellymeldubs.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
You can make flipbook GIFs 🤩 Play with it here: hadro.github.io/flipbook/#m=...
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Leon Jackson @drleonj.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
'I am but mad north-north-west. When the wind is southerly, I know a Hawk from a Hawkeye.'
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Leon Jackson @drleonj.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Archival Names of the Day are: Polly Moho and Mrs Tiptoe, who were plaintiff and witness, respectively, in Sally Grant's 1819 Boston prosecution for profane swearing 🗃️
Arrest warrant dated 23 July 1819, in which Polly Moho charges Sally Grant with profane swearing. The document is printed, with blanks completed by hand in ink.
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Leon Jackson @drleonj.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Happy #TongueOutTuesday from Tulip!
A laughing black retriever mix dog sitting on the grass, head raised, tongue illuminated by the sun
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Leon Jackson @drleonj.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Today was another defeat
what a waste
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Leon Jackson @drleonj.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
You know, once you remove the indignation, sanctimony, and self-promotion from social media, there’s almost nothing left but good dogs, pretty cats, and a bloke in Dumbarton who talks about foxes, and I’m mostly OK with that.
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Leon Jackson @drleonj.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
#bookhistory
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Leon Jackson @drleonj.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
It’s time for orange cats and their people to head to bed. Let’s try again tomorrow.
Sleepy orange and white cat on a ratty peach colored towel
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Leon Jackson @drleonj.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
After weeks of gray and rainy weather, the moisture disappeared and the sun came out. Tulip and I went to the park, then got ice cream. What a balm for the soul!
A very happy black retriever mix sits on the grass with her tongue in the sunlightA happy black retriever mix with ice cream on her whiskers
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Leon Jackson @drleonj.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
I have read and written about court records for something like eight solid hours today, and if I look at another single page, I'll combust. Time for intoxicants, snacks, and then bed.
An open page of a criminal calendar for 1807, listing all prisoners in Boston's jail by name, place of abode, date of commitment, charge, name of committer, complexion, height, age, and date/reason for discharge.
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Leon Jackson @drleonj.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
might i interest you in a ruffly dog?
A wistful pup
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Leon Jackson @drleonj.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
boxcars boxcars boxcars
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Leon Jackson @drleonj.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Same, Thomas. Same. 🗃️
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Leon Jackson @drleonj.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
The high here on Tuesday was 92; today it's 61 and pouring rain. I love Fall, but the change in temperature is, just, a lot!
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Leon Jackson @drleonj.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
I had the honor of giving a lecture on Walker's Appeal and the Declaration of Independence at BPL this summer, in conjunction with this exhibition, and the materials were just so thoughtfully and illuminatingly put together! I learned a ton!
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Leon Jackson @drleonj.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Brown paper packages tied up with string. Those are a few of my favorite things. Also, whiskers on kittens. And on dogs.
A box full of trifolded court records wrapped in brown paper and tied with twine and red tape. An orange and white cat with twizzly whiskers
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Leon Jackson @drleonj.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Tulip is boycotting #WontLookWednesday with some sustained looking 👀
My black dog is looking at you. Yes, you.
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Leon Jackson @drleonj.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
I think I would rather be teaching at muskrat school . . .
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Leon Jackson @drleonj.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
How did it get to be #TongueOutTuesday again so soon? Time’s moving too quickly!
Black dog, pink tongue
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Leon Jackson @drleonj.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Archival Name of the Day is Salem Middlesex, who was prosecuted for theft in 1797. Many African Americans in New England were given or assumed geographical names, incl. Boston, Bristol, Gloucester, Newport, Charlestown, Dublin, London & Salem. Salem, though, is in Essex, not Middlesex, County 🗃️
A printed recognizance completed by hand requiring Salem Middlesex, laborer, to appear at Boston's Court of General Sessions of the Peace in January 1798 to stand trial for stealing lumber and four lime casks. Middlesex's surety is Prince Watts, Soap Boiler. Both Middlesex and Watts were African Americans.

Source: Adlow Collection of Boston Legal History, Box 71, Special Collections, Boston Public Library.
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Leon Jackson @drleonj.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Because I love manuscript research & dogs, I am never happier than when I find a manuscript mentioning dogs, such as this 1773 Grand Jury indictment of Edward Pierce, chocolate grinder of Boston, for using "a Great Surley Dog" to attack two constables. Pic of my great-but-not-surly dog to illustrate
A manuscript document reading "Agreed to find a Bill against Edward Pierce of Boston Chocolat Grinder for striking or asaulting Two of the Constables of the Town of Boston viz Mr John Bennet & Mr John Coverly when in the Execution of their office on the Third of June 1773 with the aditonal agravation of Making Use of a Great Surley Dog in the asault"

Source: Adlow Collection of Boston Legal History, Box 27.1, Special Collections, Boston Public LibraryA wistful and dignified black retriever mix dog sits on a hardwood floor in the path of a shaft of morning sunlight, which illuminates her many splendid ruffles and tufties. She does not appear to be surly, and in fact, is quite the opposite.
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Leon Jackson @drleonj.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
In 1743, John Russia accused John Butcher of “threatning and abusing him and throwing a Cheese Cake in his face.” Pretty humorous until you realize that that meant a cake of cheese, not your usual New York Style, so it probably hurt. A lot. Quarter Session Rolls are wild! 🤡 🧀 ⚖️ 🗃️
A recognizance written on a parchment strip
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Leon Jackson @drleonj.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
“Now is the seed time of continental union, faith and honor. The least fracture now will be like a name engraved with the point of a pin on the tender rind of a young oak; The wound will enlarge with the tree, and posterity read it in full grown characters.” Thomas Paine, Common Sense, 1776.
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Leon Jackson @drleonj.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
It’s easy staying in the study all day when you have such a delightful study buddy! 🖤📚🐕‍🦺
A smiling back retriever mix sits on a colorful, if slightly grubby, rug in a book-lined study.
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Leon Jackson @drleonj.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
🟠
Orange and white cat asleep
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Leon Jackson @drleonj.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
I will never not be boggled by this 1733 case from London in which Mauris Bates accused a neighbor of deliberately hiding ‘a parcell of buggs’ under his bed to ‘spoil his household goods and furniture.’ Was this a thing? 🗃️🪳
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Leon Jackson @drleonj.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
This #ThrowBackThursday pic is from 1991. I was a grad student at Harvard and my doggie pal was Allie, who belonged to Janet Viggiani, Senior Tutor at Adams House. I would take Allie for long, long walks around Cambridge but never managed to wear her out. I trace my love of Collie mixes to this time
A bespectacled young man wearing his dad’s ratty tweed jacket and blue jeans feeds pieces of muffin to a border collie who is sitting up on her hind legs, her tongue in a tiny blep.
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Leon Jackson @drleonj.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
My Velcro Dog 🥹
My sweet black retriever mix glued to my leg
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Leon Jackson @drleonj.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Tulip is *all* about eye contact - heck, about contact, period - but here’s a rare snap of her from the summer for #WontLookWednesday
A ruffly black retriever mix sprawled on a hardwood floor and looking back over her shoulder at rain on the window
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Adam Morgan @adamm0rgan.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
If you work for a book publisher that has introduced AI at any point in the publishing process, I'm working on a story and would like you speak with you, on-record or off-. Same goes if you're an author and you've witnessed your publisher using AI at any point in the publishing process.
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Leon Jackson @drleonj.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Philly friends! Please consider a serving of Mashed Potato. I mean, just look at this guy! 🥹
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Haven Hawley @ehhawley.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Thrilled to announce publication of "A Perfect Machine: The Adams Power Press" by The Legacy Press! www.thelegacypress.com Grippers! Press sizes! Industrial transistion in the U.S.! Book history scholars, bibliographers, and historians of technology, gender, and the 19th c., geek out with me
White book cover held in hand against grass, tree, sidewalk background. Cover shows book title and picture of woman operating a printing press.
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Leon Jackson @drleonj.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
My other dog is a Quarter Session Roll
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Leon Jackson @drleonj.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
My humble #TongueOutTuesday offering, an’t please your worship
A black retriever mix dog, ruffles resplendent, and tongue out with becoming restraint
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Leon Jackson @drleonj.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
I know that I have become the Guy Who Posts Too Many Pictures of His Dog, and, just to be crystal clear, I am so very OK with that.
My sweet black retriever mix dog, pictured in the summer sun, laughing.
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Leon Jackson @drleonj.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
oh noes 😮
Supreme Court Blocks Trump’s Mail Voting Plan

Ruling Deals Major Loss to Administration Weeks Before Midterms
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Leon Jackson @drleonj.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
How your e-mail finds me
Two rotting, flattened parchment assize rolls, the threads around them decomposing into the organic detritus.
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Leon Jackson @drleonj.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
It’s #InternationalRufflyBlackRetrieverMixDay! Celebrate a ruffly black retriever mix! 🐕‍🦺
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Leon Jackson @drleonj.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
I tried hard today. I’ll try hard again tomorrow.
An orange and white cat in a ball
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Leon Jackson @drleonj.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Things I Love About My Dog #875445 The day I bought Tulip home as a three month old puppy, she carried her bowl around in her mouth when it was time for dinner. She still does this, every single day! Cutest. Dog. Ever 🥣🐕‍🦺
A tiny black retriever mix puppy holding a bowl bigger than her head in her tiny puppy mouthTulip today, three years old, with the same bowl in her mouthTulip making sure that every last kibble from the bowl goes into her mouthA very good dog and her bowl
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Leon Jackson @drleonj.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
I had a fun day reading early C19 swears. My favorite is from Betsy Francis, who swore ‘by Jesus Christ’ that she wouldn’t go to court to testify on Flora Earl’s behalf, if Earl wouldn’t give her a gown, & who ended up in court anyhow for uttering that oath. Earl, Francis, & Jackson were all black 🗃️
A close up of a criminal complaint issued on behalf of Amy Jackson against Betsy Francis for saying ‘By Jesus Christ if Mrs Earl did not give her the gown she promised she would no go to court’ The date of the complaint is dated 5 August 1819.
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Leon Jackson @drleonj.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
In 1818, black community stalwart Primus Hall sued his neighbor Nancy Princess for calling him an ‘old greyheaded Son of a Bitch & a whore master.’ Depositions generated by their dispute came not only from Boston but also Savannah, Havana, & Liverpool, as mariners carried gossip overseas & back 1/ 🗃️
Close up of an indictment from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, Primus Hall v Nancy Princess (1818), detailing Princess calling Hall an old greyheaded son of a bitch and a whore masterAn indictment from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, Primus Hall v Nancy Princess (1818), detailing Princess calling Hall an old greyheaded son of a bitch and a whore masterHall v Princess
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Leon Jackson @drleonj.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Am I the only person to routinely confuse Alexander Keyssar's Out of Work and Alice Kessler-Harris's Out to Work? 🗃️
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Dr Laura Sangha @lsangha.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Hello Blueskiers who live in / know about Reading! Where's a nice place for a weekday lunch within walkable distance of the train station please? Vegetarian friendly
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Leon Jackson @drleonj.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
I just started reading David Levering Lewis’s biography of W E B DuBois, and it’s stunningly good. Lewis offers up sumptuous prose that stops me in my tracks every page or two in amazement. And the research is exhaustive without ever being exhausting. What an impressive volume!
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