It was part of a celebration for the civil rights leader's 83rd birthday.
The tribute took place on the fourth floor of City Hall Tuesday afternoon.
Family, friends and admirers attended.
Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. given key to city of Chicago on 83rd birthday
Mayor Brandon Johnson spoke before presenting the key to Jackson, who has been a lifelong civil rights champion.
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Johnson said Jackson's work will continue to inspire future generations.
"We thank you that the long road to freedom is a little bit shorter now," Johnson said.
His son, Congressman Jonathan Jackson, shared an emotional tribute, thanking city leaders and residents for embracing his father, when the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. asked Jackson to lead the Chicago chapter of Operation Breadbasket nearly 60 years ago.
"I think it's entirely appropriate to give great men and great women flowers while they can still smell them," Jackson said.
The ceremony at times felt like a church service.
Jackson's legacy took center stage a few months ago at the Democratic National Convention. The party celebrated his nearly six decades of activism and his status as the first Black person to win a major party's presidential state primary or caucus.
Jackson's oratorical skills that made him a force to be reckoned with have been mostly silenced by Parkinson's Disease.
Last year, Jackson stepped down as president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, the Chicago-based organization fighting for progressive social change he founded in 1996. He's now in an advisory role.
But, he continues to be present at many public events.