Elmer C. Jackson, Jr. was born October 22, 1912 in Kansas City, Kansas. After graduating from that city's Sumner High School in 1929, he obtained a Bachelors degree in 1933 and a law degree in 1935, both from the University of Kansas.

For 17 years Jackson operated his own law practice in Kansas City, Kansas. In 1952 he joined the firm of Stevens, Jackson, Davis and Haley. From 1963 to 1968 he served as general counsel and project director of the Wyandotte County Legal Aid Society, where he administered a legal service program for the indigent.

In 1970 Governor Robert Docking appointed Jackson to the Kansas Board of Regents; he served as the Board's chairman from 1976-1978, becoming one of the first African Americans to do so. Jackson was a life member of the National Bar Association, and served as the organization's President from 1959 to 1961 and as it's membership secretary from 1966-1975. He was also a member of numerous other legal organizations, including the Kansas City, Kansas Bar Association, the Wyandotte County Bar Association, and the American Bar Foundation.

Jackson remained highly active with his alma mater, serving on the University of Kansas Alumni and Endowment Associations boards and creating a scholarship at the KU Law School. For his service to the University, he received a Distinguished Alumni Citation from the School of Law, a Distinguished Service Citation in 1979, and the 1991 Fred Ellsworth Medallion.

Jackson was active in a number of other organizations, including the Urban League, Kansas City Kansas Chamber of Commerce, and Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity. Jackson married Lucil V. Wright; the couple had one son, Elmer C. Jackson, III. Elmer C. Jackson, Jr. died March 19, 1999.