By most accounts, Maynard Holbrook Jackson, Jr. should have been a preacher.
Descended from three generations of Baptist ministers, Jackson recalled in one interview in 1988 that he was all but certain at a young age he’d be a faith leader like his father and grandfather before him.
“I’ve always known I was destined for some sort of public service. Whether it meant in elected office, or in the ministry or at the bar as an attorney,” Jackson said. “Trying to use the skills that I had, and the value system that I was taught by my family, to change things for the better for those who were the most oppressed.”
Instead, Jackson became the first Black mayor in the South and the only three-term mayor in the city of Atlanta’s history after being elected in 1973. During his 12 years as the city’s leader, Jackson spearheaded a political, economic and cultural revolution that hinged on mending strained race relations and building Atlanta’s reputation as a Black Mecca.
Five decades later, during the 50th anniversary of Jackson’s historic election, we explore the moment that catapulted Jackson to office, the obstacles he faced as mayor and the legacy he left on the new American South.