Young, Coleman A. (Coleman Alexander), 1918-1997

Coleman Alexander Young (May 24, 1918 – November 29, 1997) was an American labor leader, union organizer, and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as mayor of Detroit, Michigan from 1974 to 1994. Young was the first African-American mayor of Detroit.

Born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, his family moved in 1923 to Detroit, as part of the Great Migration out of the South to industrial cities that offered more opportunity. There, Young graduated from Eastern High School in 1935. Though offered a scholarship to the University of Michigan, he was forced to decline when the Eastern High School Alumni Association failed to arrange a job that would assist him with his costs beyond tuition. Upon his graduation from Eastern, he joined an apprentice school for electricians through Ford Motor Company. However a less qualified white apprentice was given the available electrician’s position so Young was assigned to Ford’s assembly line and quickly became involved in underground labor activities. After several run-ins with company management, Young was fired. In 1942, Young joined the U.S. Army, where he was commissioned as a second lieutenant. Returning to Detroit after the war, Young became a union activist for the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) until being fired for radical behavior. Young then worked full-time for progressive presidential candidate Henry A. Wallace, losing his 1948 bid for the State Senate as a member of Wallace's Progressive Party.

During the early 1950s, Young and numerous other union leaders were called in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee hearings in Detroit and Young was one of few people who stood up to the committee, saying “I consider the activities of this Committee as un-American.” In 1960, he was elected as a delegate to help draft a new state constitution for Michigan. After losing a 1962 bid for the Michigan House of Representatives, Young won election to the Michigan State Senate in 1964. His most significant legislation was a law requiring arbitration in disputes between public-sector unions and municipalities. During his senate career, he also pointed out inequities in Michigan state funding. Coleman Young decided to run for mayor of Detroit in 1973. At the forefront of his campaign, he sought to address the increasing police violence suffered by black residents in the city. In November 1973, Young narrowly defeated former Police Commissioner John Nichols for mayor, becoming the first black mayor of Detroit. His election represented a major turning point in both the city's racial and political history.

Young served five terms as mayor of Detroit from 1974–1994. Young won re-election by wide margins in November 1977, November 1981, November 1985 and November 1989, for a total of 20 years as mayor, based largely on black votes. During his first term, Young worked to integrate the Dertroit Police Department. During his second term, Young wanted to ensure affirmative action initiatives in order to positively transform the racial makeup of city departments. Young's third term as mayor focused heavily on both the covert and overt forces of racism that divided the city and suburbs. During his fourth term, Young continued to work on improving racial relations of the city and neighborhood standards. Mayor Young's fifth and final term was largely characterized by the police beating death of Malice Green on November 5, 1992, directly relevant to Young's mayoral goal of improving relations between the black population of Detroit and the police and severely undermined much of the progress he had worked so tirelessly to accomplish. Throughout his time as mayor, he was an outspoken advocate for large Detroit construction projects, and his administration saw the completion of the Renaissance Center, Detroit People Mover, the General Motors Detroit/Hamtramck Assembly Plant, the Detroit Receiving Hospital, the Chrysler Jefferson North Assembly Plant, the Riverfront Condominiums, the Millender Center Apartments, the Harbortown retail and residential complex, 150 West Jefferson, One Detroit Center and the Fox Theater restoration, among other developments.

In 1994, Young published his autobiography, entitled Hard Stuff. He died in Detroit and is buried in the Hazel Dell Section of Elmwood Cemetery.