Maynard Jackson

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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 and arguably most popular and respected mayor of Atlanta, Georgia. He served three terms, two consecutive terms from 1974 until 1982 and a third term from 1990 to 1994. Jackson became the first African-American mayor of Atlanta in the same week that Coleman Young became the first African-American mayor of Detroit.

Maynard Jackson's grandfather was civil rights leader John Wesley Dobbs. His mother, Irene Dobbs Jackson, was professor of French at Spelman College. Jackson graduated from Morehouse College in 1956 when he was only eighteen. After attending Boston University law school for a short time, he held several jobs, including selling encyclopedias, before attending the North Carolina Central University law school, graduating in 1964.

Jackson married his first wife, Burnella "Bunny" Burke, in 1965. The couple had three children, Elizabeth, Brooke, and Maynard III, before divorcing. Jackson married Valerie Richardson in 1977, with whom he fathered two more children, Valerie and Alexandra. Valerie R. Jackson remains a local public radio personality in Atlanta.

He helped rebuild Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport to modern standards, which was renamed Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in his honor shortly after his death. He was also mayor when MARTA began rapid transit service in Atlanta, and when Atlanta won as host of the 1996 Centennial Summer Olympics in September 1990. He accepted the Olympic flag at the 1992 closing ceremonies in Barcelona. His term as mayor also coincided with the Atlanta Child Murders case, in which he played a prominent role.

He unsuccessfully sought the job of Democratic National Committee chairman in 2001, losing to fundraiser Terry McAuliffe who had the backing of Bill and Hillary Clinton while Jackson was backed by presidential candidate Bill Bradley. 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

He died at the age of 65 of cardiac arrest at an Arlington, Virginia hospital after suffering a heart attack at Reagan National Airport. He is buried at Oakland Cemetery.

Jackson was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African Americans.

[edit] External links

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

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