On this day in 1938, Atlanta’s first Black mayor was born

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Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson talks to a New York news conference, Feb. 21, 1974, saying that he has increased security around himself and his family as a result of the abduction of Atlanta Constitution editor Reg Murphy. (AP Photo)
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On March 23, 1938, Atlanta’s first Black mayor, Maynard H. Jackson Jr., was born in Dallas, Texas. Jackson’s family moved to Atlanta in 1945 when his father accepted a job as pastor of the Friendship Baptist Church. He went on to attend Morehouse College through a special program and graduated at just 18.

Before his election as mayor, Jackson earned a J.D. from the Carolina Central University School of Law and worked as an attorney for the National Labor Relations Board. In 1969, Jackson was elected vice-mayor and, in 1973, he won the city’s mayoral race — making him the first African-American to hold the office and the first Black mayor of a southern city.

Jackson served two consecutive terms and was re-elected in 1990 for a third term.


Click play to listen to the AURN News report from Clay Cane. Follow @claycane & @aurnonline for more.

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