Jul 26, 2004 · During the late 1960s Jackson worked as an attorney for the National Labor Relations Board and a legal services firm. In 1968 thirty-year-old Jackson undertook an impulsive, quixotic, and underfunded race for the U.S. Senate against incumbent Herman Talmadge .
Jackson is best known for improving opportunities for African Americans to do business with the City of Atlanta, especially in the expansion of Hartsfield Airport-which has been renamed Hartsfield-Jackson Airport.
Maynard H. Jackson Jr., elected in 1973 as the first African-American to run a major Southern city, helped create an Atlanta that boasted the world's busiest airport, allowed minorities to do business with the government, hosted the Olympic Games and attracted people to a black mecca.Jun 24, 2003
A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected in 1973 at the age of 35 as the first black mayor of Atlanta, Georgia and of any major city in the South. He served three terms (1974–1982, 1990–1994), making him the second longest-serving mayor of Atlanta, after six-term mayor (1937–1941, 1942–1962) William B.
Elected mayor of Atlanta in 1973, Maynard Jackson was the first African American to serve as mayor of a major southern city. Jackson served eight years and then returned for a third term in 1990, following the mayorship of Andrew Young.
Carl Stokes was featured on the cover of Time in November 1967. Significance: Carl B. Stokes was the first African American elected mayor of a major US city, serving in Cleveland from 1968 to 1971.
The journey for Atlanta's Olympic bid began in 1987 and was spearheaded by Billy Payne, a real estate lawyer, with the support of Mayor Andrew Young. Jackson, though not the mayor of Atlanta at that time, assisted Young and Payne in their efforts.Jan 31, 2022
Sam MassellSucceeded byMaynard JacksonPersonal detailsBornAugust 26, 1927 Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.Political partyDemocratic11 more rows
List#MayorTerm start53Andrew Young198254Maynard Jackson (2nd term)199055Bill Campbell199456Shirley Franklin200255 more rows
Mayor William B. HartsfieldIn 1971, the city renamed the airport after Mayor William B. Hartsfield, who steered the airport from the barnstorming era to the jet age. In 2003, the city added the name of Mayor Maynard Jackson, who led the rebuilding of the airport in the 1970s.
He worked tirelessly to improve the economic and social position of African-Americans in the city. A strong believer in affirmative action, Jackson supported legislation that required a quarter of the city projects be given to minority businesses.
In 2001, the people of Atlanta elected Shirley Franklin, a first time candidate for public office, to serve as the 58th Mayor of the City of Atlanta. She became the first female mayor of Atlanta and the first African American woman to serve as mayor of a major southern city.
Morehouse CollegeNorth Carolina Central UniversityBoston UniversityMaynard Jackson/Education
Maynard Jackson died of heart failure on June 23, 2003, at a hospital in Arlington, Virginia. He suffered a heart attack when he was at the Ronald Regan Washington Airport.
He graduated in 1956 at the age of 18. He joined the Boston University Law School for a brief period. He did some odd jobs for some time. He again studied law at the North Carolina Central University Law School.
His mother, Irene graduated from Spelman College. He also obtained a doctorate in France and was a professor of French at the college. Maynard Holbrook Jackson Sr was a minister from New Orleans. He was a civil rights activist in Dallas, Texas. His grandfather Alexander Stephens Jackson was an educationalist in Louisiana and Texas.
Jackson served eight years and then returned for a third term. in 1990, following the mayorship of Andrew Young. As a result of affirmative action programs instituted by Jackson in his first two terms, the portion of city business going to minority firms rose dramatically.
He then attended Boston University law school but was unsuccessful. After working several jobs in the North, including one as an encyclopedia salesman, Jackson received his law degree from North Carolina Central University in 1964. In December of the following year he married Burnella "Bunnie" Hayes Burke.
Maynard Jr.'s Atlanta roots ran deep. His mother, Irene Dobbs Jackson, a professor of French at Spelman College, was the daughter of John Wesley Dobbs, founder of the Georgia Voters League. When Jackson Sr. died in 1953, Dobbs became even more influential in the life of his fifteen-year-old grandson. In 1959 Jackson's mother became the first ...
They had three children, Elizabeth, Brooke, and Maynard III. During the late 1960s Jackson worked as an attorney for the National Labor Relations Board and a legal services firm. In 1968 thirty-year-old Jackson undertook an impulsive, quixotic, and underfunded race for the U.S. Senate against incumbent Herman Talmadge.
In 1977 Jackson married advertising executive Valerie Richardson, whom he had met in New York after a divorce with his first wife the previous year. Jackson and Richardson had two children, Valerie and Alexandra.
In his victory speech, Jackson — Atlanta ’ s first black mayor — addressed an enthusiastic audience in the grandly rhetorical style that was to become characteristic of him: “ We have risen from the ashes of a bitter campaign to build a better life for all Atlantans, ” Jackson was quoted as saying in the New York Times. Determined to open the door of opportunity to all citizens, Jackson immediately set to work to revamp the city charter. The Board of Aldermen was replaced by an eighteen-member biracial city council. The city was divided into 24 planning districts, each of which held public hearings, giving a forum to every neighborhood and promoting new leadership within the neighborhood.
Jackson ’ s strongest opponent, Michael Lomax, had earlier withdrawn from the race, convinced that he would be unable to defeat Jackson. Once Lomax withdrew, Jackson ’ s victory was practically guaranteed, and on October 3, 1989, he swamped the only other creditable contender, Hosea Williams, by a four-to-one majority.
On January 7, 1974, Maynard Jackson, an ebullient, outspoken bond lawyer, became the first black — and at age 35 the youngest person ever — to be elected mayor of a major southern city. He served two consecutive terms as mayor of Atlanta and after an eight-year absence made a triumphant return to office in 1989, carrying 79 percent of the popular vote. Jackson has characterized his approach as the “ politics of inclusion, ” which opened the doors of the mayor ’ s office to all. During Jackson ’ s first two terms in office, the governing regime of Atlanta was placed firmly into the hands of its black citizenry.
Former slave Andrew Jackson, his paternal great-great grandfather, bought his own freedom and founded a Baptist church in Atlanta. And Jackson ’ s maternal grandfather, John Wesley Dobbs, founded the Georgia Voters League.