Uncrowned Community Builders

Professor Nash was a life-time resident of Buffalo, New York. He was born on February 22, 1926. He is the only son of Frances Jackson Nash and the Reverend J. Edward Nash, Sr., the venerable pastor of the Michigan Street Baptist Church. Professor Nash was an academic sociologist, lecturer, administrator, counselor, organizational consultant, program planner/developer, musician and amateur photographer.

He received an M.A. in Sociology/Anthropology from the University at Buffalo in 1966. At the time of his graduation he was awarded the Lucia Maria Haupt Prize for research excellence in his chosen field. He was a member of the Department of Sociology/Anthropology at Canisius College in Buffalo for 33 years, from 1965 to 1998 and retired Professor Emeritus.

From 1969 to 1973, he was a Lecturer in the Department of Social, Philosophical and Historical Foundations in the University at Buffalo Graduate School of Education. From 1975-1980, he was Assistant Vice-President/Affirmative Action Officer, University at Buffalo Office of Finance and Management. He served as the Executive Director and Program Developer of the Buffalo Model Cities Program from 1967-1971. He was responsible for developing its planning and execution program. That effort brought $5.36 million to the City of Buffalo for three consecutive years to carry out the program. Before taking the Model Cities post, he taught at Public Schools 37 and Clinton Junior High School. He was the President of Seventy-Eight Restoration, Inc., since 1978. This community oriented organization, in collaboration with James Management, Inc., developed the Queen Anne units that received both State and National recognition for creating the Emerson Row Apartments for persons of low income. In the early 1990s he was a consultant to the "Neighbors" project of the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society.

He was invited to lecture at McMaster University, Canada, 1961-1962, for the Department of Sociology; Harvard University, 1969, for the Afro and African American Studies Department; Cornell University, 1970-1971, for the Department of Architecture and Planning; Up-State Medical Center, 1983, for the Students' Association; and Carnegie Mellon University, 1991 for the Architecture and Planning Department.

Professor Nash designed and implemented the Citizen Participation component of the Buffalo Model Cities Program, and as a member of the Robert T. Coles, P.C. project team, also developed and administered the Citizen Participation components for the: Buffalo Waterfront Alternatives Study; the War Memorial Stadium Restoration Project; the Buffalo LRRT-Station Area Land Use Study; and the Erie Community College City Campus Feasibility Study for a new Physical Education Facility.

Professor Nash's community involvement was extensive. His former affiliations included: member of the College Council of the State University College at Buffalo, appointed by Governor Nelson Rockefeller; member of the New York State Commission on Minorities in the Health-Related Professions in Higher Education, appointed by Governor Hugh Carey; moderator of the Community and Urban Areas Section of the New York State Sociological Association; vice-President of the Western New York Sociological Association; vice-President of the Buffalo Urban League; member of the Executive Board of WNED-TV; member of the Board of Directors of Child and Family Services, Inc.; member of Millard Fillmore Hospital Board of Directors; Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Walls Memorial Cultural Center Head Start Program, PACE; member of the Board of Directors of NCCJ; member of the Board of Directors of the Erie County Industrial Development Agency; member of the Public Issues Committee of the Buffalo and Erie County Council of Churches; Sociology Instructor at Attica Penitentiary; member of the Board of Directors of Local 533 American Federation of Musicians, and the Board of Directors of the Colored Musicians Club of Buffalo, NY; directed the "Jesse Nash" Choir (40 voices SATB) which was the first choral group to appear on television in Buffalo, NY on WBEN, Christmas Day, 1948; performed with several orchestras during the 1940s as a "utility instrumentalist" on reeds, brass and percussion. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Professor Nash played trumpet with his sons, Jesse III (keyboards) and George (drums) as the trio, "Expansions".

Professor Nash's affiliations included: St. Philip's Episcopal Church Men's Club; American Sociological Association; NAACP Life member; Afro American Historical Association of the Niagara Frontier; Alpha Sigma Nu (Jesuit Honor Society); NYS Retired Teachers' Association; Lincoln Center Jazz Club and Omega Psi Phi Fraternity.

He has received numerous honors: the Haupt Award for undergraduate sociological research, University at Buffalo, 1958; the Jesse E. Nash Health Center, Buffalo, NY, 1972; the President's Medal, Canisius College, 1972; the Evans-Young Award, Buffalo Urban League, 1975; the University at Buffalo President's Award, 1980; Educator of the Year; NYS Black and Puerto Rican Caucus, 1989; the Medgar Evers Award (jointly with wife, Hortense) Buffalo NAACP, 1990; the Martin Luther King, Jr. Award, Canisius College, 1991; the Marcus Garvey Award, Jamaican/American Association, 1991; the Governor's Award for Distinguished Blacks in NYS, 1993; the "Red Jacket" Community Service Award, Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society, 1994; the Culture Keeper Award (jointly with wife, Hortense) from the Uncrowned Queens Institute, 2003; the 1946-2006 Bridge Builder Award, Phi Epsilon and Phi Omega Chapters of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, 2006.

Professor Nash noted that his favorite past-time was listening to all types of music. Although his eye-sight was impaired, he still tried to read non-fiction and on occasion, play with the camera. He enjoyed the game of chess and doodling designs. His wife and he used to go ice-skating in winter and camping with the family in the summer, but he said "my legs tell me those days are gone forever."

Professor Nash was married to the former, Hortense Butts, an Uncrowned Queen. The couple had been married for over 50 years and had three children, Jesse III, George Raymond and Deborah Nash Franklin.