Maynard Jackson

Maynard Holbrook Jackson
54th Mayor of Atlanta, Georgia
In office 1974–1982
Preceded by	Sam Massell
Succeeded by	Andrew Young
56th Mayor of Atlanta, Georgia
In office 1990–1994
Preceded by	Andrew Young
Succeeded by	Bill Campbell
Personal details
Born	March 23, 1938(1938-03-23) Dallas, Texas
Died	June 23, 2003(2003-06-23) (aged 65) Arlington, Virginia
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Burnella "Bunnie" Burke Valerie Richardson
Alma mater	Morehouse College Boston University Law School North Carolina Central University Law School
Profession	attorney, politician

Maynard Holbrook Jackson, Jr. (March 23, 1938 – June 23, 2003) was an American politician, a member of the Democratic Party, and the first African American mayor of Atlanta, Georgia. He served three terms, two consecutive terms from 1974 until 1982 and a third term from 1990 to 1994. He became the first African-American mayor of Atlanta in the same week that Coleman Young became the first African-American mayor of Detroit.

Family history, background and personal life

Jackson's grandfather was the civil rights leader John Wesley Dobbs. His mother, Irene Dobbs Jackson, was a Professor of French at Spelman College in Atlanta. Jackson himself graduated from Morehouse College in 1956 when he was only eighteen years old, where he sang in the Morehouse College Glee Club.^[1] After attending the Boston University Law School for a short time, he held several jobs, including selling encyclopedias, before he decided to attend the North Carolina Central University Law School, from which he graduated in 1964. He was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.

Jackson married his first wife, Burnella "Bunnie" Burke, in 1965. This couple had three children, Elizabeth, Brooke, and Maynard III, before divorcing. He married Valerie Richardson in 1980, with whom he fathered two more children, Valerie and Alexandra. Valerie Jackson hosts "Between the Lines" each weekend on the WABE-FM radio stadion, the Atlanta Public Broadcasting station.

Mayor of Atlanta

Maynard Jackson

During Jackson's first term as the Mayor, much progress was made in improving race relations in and around Atlanta, and Atlanta acquired the motto "A City Too Busy to Hate." As mayor, he led the beginnings and much of the progress on several huge public-works projects in Atlanta and its region. He helped arrange for the rebuilding of the Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport's huge terminal to modern standards, and this airport was renamed the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in his honor, shortly after his death, also renamed after him is the new international terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport called The Maynard Holbrook Jackson Jr. International Terminal slated to open in the Spring of 2012. He also fought against the construction of freeways through intown neighborhoods.

Jackson was mayor when the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) obtained a large amount of Federal funding for a rapid-transit rail-line system, when its construction began, and when MARTA began its first rail transit service in Atlanta and in DeKalb County in 1979, and during its continual expansion thereafter. He was also mayor when Atlanta was selected as the host city for the 1996 Summer Olympic Games, when the decision was made in September 1990. As mayor, he accepted the Olympic flag at the 1992 closing ceremonies in Barcelona, Spain. Many planned public works projects, such as improvements to freeways and parks, and the completion of Freedom Parkway, were expedited from 1990-1996 in preparation for the Olympic Games that began in August 1996.

Jackson's term as mayor also coincided with the Atlanta Child Murders case in 1979-80, which he played a prominent role in resolving, both in supporting the Atlanta Police and other police forces in the area, but also by endeavoring to calm the huge amount of public tension that arose because of these serial killings. The murderer, Wayne Williams was caught in 1980, tried, convicted, and sent to prison for life. It is notable that as soon as Williams was arrested, the string of murders stopped.

Service to the Democratic National Committee

Jackson unsuccessfully sought the post as the Democratic National Committee chairman in 2001, losing to the fund-raiser Terry McAuliffe, who had the backing of Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, with Jackson receiving the backing of the Presidential candidate Bill Bradley, among others. Jackson was National Development Chairman of the Democratic National Committee and was the first Chairman of the DNC Voting Rights Institute. In 2002, he founded the American Voters League, a non-profit and non-partisan effort to increase national voter participation. He appeared briefly in the documentary "startup.com" in 2000.

Death in 2003

Jackson died in 2003 at the age of 65, of a cardiac arrest at an Arlington, Virginia hospital after he suffered a heart attack at the Reagan National Airport. His remains are buried at the Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta.

References

1. ^ "Honoring Maynard Holbrook Jackson". Congressional Record: 15755. 2003-06-23. http://books.google.com/books?id=gjsOK4p-UFIC&lpg=PA15755&dq=%22morehouse%20college%22%20%22glee%20club%22&pg=PA15755#v=onepage&q=%22morehouse%20college%22%20%22glee%20club%22&f=false. 

External links

	Atlanta portal
	Biography portal

• Maynard Jackson (in the New Georgia Encyclopedia)
• Maynard Holbrook Jackson, Jr at Find a Grave
• From Texas to Georgia, Maynard Jackson Jr. from the African American Registry
• Maynard H. Jackson at Jackson Securities

Political offices
Preceded by Sam Massell	Mayor of Atlanta 1974–1982	Succeeded by Andrew Young
Preceded by Andrew Young	Mayor of Atlanta 1990–1994	Succeeded by Bill Campbell

Persondata
Name	Jackson, Maynard
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	March 23, 1938
Place of birth	Dallas, Texas
Date of death	June 23, 2003
Place of death	Arlington, Virginia