Van Jackson was part of a group that successfully challenged voter discrimination against African Americans in 1944 in Atlanta, Georgia.

[3]: 261  In 1947 he accepted an invitation to work for the United States Information Agency as a public affairs officer in Monrovia, Liberia.

[6] He worked as a consultant for the Alabama State College from 1952 to 1954, directing their book acquisition project and drawing up architectural plans for the library building.

From 1962 to 1963, Van Jackson served as deputy director and acquisitions librarian of the National Library of Nigeria.

[3]: 263  In 1974 the Black Caucus of the American Library Association and the African-American Scholars Council sponsored his work as assistant to the librarian on the Swaziland campus of the University of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland; he initiated the library's reference service and created a plan for future development.

[7] Van Jackson was outspoken in his criticism of ALA before and after the conference, describing the segregation of black librarians as "a shameful slide backward" in Library Journal.

[3]: 268–269 [7] As Secretary of the Citizen's Committee on Democratic Primaries, Van Jackson sued the registrar of Atlanta in July 1944 for refusing to send the names of black Americans to the polls, preventing them from voting.