Jackson, Maynard, 1938-2003

<p>The great-grandson of slaves, Maynard Holbrook Jackson, Jr. was born in Dallas, Texas, on March 23, 1938. His father, Maynard Holbrook Jackson, Sr., was a leading figure in the 1930s campaign for black voting rights in Dallas and a founder of Democratic Progressive Voter’s League in 1936. His mother, Irene Dobbs Jackson, was a professor of French at Spelman College who desegregated the Atlanta city library system. His aunt Mattiwilda Dobbs was the first African American to sing at the La Scala Opera in Milan, Italy. When Maynard was seven years old his father, a clergyman, moved the family to Atlanta, Georgia, where he assumed pastorship of the Friendship Baptist Church.</p>

<p>After graduating from Morehouse College in 1956 with a BA degree in political science, Jackson briefly attended law school at Boston University before transferring to North Carolina Central University Law School where he earned a JD degree cum laude in 1964. Married two times, he was the father of seven children. Jackson was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha and Sigma Pi Phi fraternities.</p>

<p>After work with the National Labor Relations Board and a neighborhood law office, 30-year-old Jackson mounted an underfunded populist challenge to veteran Georgia segregationist Senator Herman Talmadge in 1968. Despite the odds against him, and the conservative racial climate in the state, he surprised many political observers by winning 200,000 votes, one third of the total vote, and garnering the support of many white small farmers. He also ran well in Atlanta, reflecting the growing influence of African American voters.</p>

<p>Maynard Holbrook Jackson Jr. (March 23, 1938 – June 23, 2003) was an American politician and attorney from Georgia. 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. Hartsfield.</p>

<p>He is notable also for public works projects, primarily the new Maynard H. Jackson International terminal at the Atlanta airport, and for greatly increasing minority business participation in the city. After his death, the William B. Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport was re-named Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport to honor his service to the expansion of the airport, the city and its people.</p>

<p>Jackson was born into a family that valued education and political activism. His maternal grandfather was civil rights leader John Wesley Dobbs, who worked to successfully overturn the white primary in Georgia. He also gained the hiring of black police officers in Atlanta and lighting of Auburn Street, the main retail street of the black community. Maynard's mother Irene (Dobbs) Jackson was one of six daughters; all graduated from Spelman College, encouraged by their parents. Irene earned a doctorate in France and became a Professor of French at the college.</p>

<p>Maynard Jackson was Atlanta's first African American mayor; he serve two consecutive terms (1974-1978; 1978-1982) and was elected for a third term in 1990. 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. Under his leadership African American contracts witih the City of Atlanta increased to thirty-five percent from a low of less than one percent. Jackson also reformed the City of Atlanta Police Department, changing it's reputation as a public agency that mistreated African Americans and limited opportunity for African American policemen. The death of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968 prompted Jackson to enter politics for the first time. He ran against popular white supremacist Herman Tallmadge for a seat in the United States Senate. Although Jackson did not win (he received approximately one-third of votes cast), he described his campaign as successful because he wanted to energize Georgia's African American electorate to take advantage of the provisions of the Voting Rights Act passed in 1965. Jackson was actively involved in the National Democratic Party. He founded the African American Voters League (2001) and during the same year he strongly suppported the election of Shirley Franklin, Atlanta's first female mayor. At the time of his death in 2003, Jackson had been appointed to a top position in the National Democratic Party.</p>

<p>Maynard Jackson, Jr.'s father was the pastor of Friendship Baptist Church in Atlanta; his mother, Irene Dobbs Jackson, was a professor of French at Spelman College. Jackson's maternal grandfather, activist John Wesley Dobbs (1882-1961) provided a framework for Maynard's political life. Dobbs was known as the unofficial mayor of Auburn Avenue, an important street and symbol of African American progress and pride in Atlanta. Maynard Jackson was a child prodigy who graduated from high school at fourteen, and earned a degree from Morehouse College at the age of eighteen. He earned a law degree from North Carolina Central University (1964).</p>

</p>In 1990, Mr. Jackson founded the Maynard Jackson Youth Foundation, Inc. (a multi-focused leadership program teaching disadvantaged 11th grade students in Atlanta) where he actively served as Chairman and Principal Teacher. In 1994, Jackson returned to the private sector as Chairman of Jackson Securities headquartered in Atlanta. The firm was named one of the top five black investment companies by Black Enterprise magazine in 1996. At the time of his death, Mr. Jackson and his daughter, Brook, ran Jackson Securities, Inc.</p>

<p><b>RACES</b>
<ul>
<li> 10/03/1989 Atlanta Mayor Won 79.37% (+63.35%)</li>
<li> 10/05/1985 Atlanta Mayor Lost 0.04% (-82.08%)</li>
<li> 10/04/1977 Atlanta Mayor Won 63.23% (+45.45%)</li>
<li> 10/16/1973 Atlanta Mayor - Runoff Won 59.89% (+19.77%)</li>
<li> 10/02/1973 Atlanta Mayor Won 46.64% (+26.79%)</li>
<li> 10/07/1969 Atlanta City Council President Won 57.99% (+18.70%)</li>
<li> 09/11/1968 GA US Senate - D Primary Lost 24.81% (-50.38%)</li>
</ul>
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