By Rhonda Spears
July 14, 2003

People came from everywhere — by the thousands to pay their last respects to one of the most popular mayors in history. Over a three-day period, people from all across the country gathered in Atlanta for the memorial services of that city's first black mayor, Maynard Holbrook Jackson, Jr. The former three-term mayor died June 23 after collapsing in Washington Reagan National Airport in Washington (DC). He was 65.

Conference President Hempstead (NY) Mayor James A. Garner and Conference Executive Director Tom Cochran led a delegation of mayors and former mayors in attending the memorial services celebrating the life of Mayor Jackson. Jackson had a long history with the Conference of Mayors while serving two terms from 1973-1982. He was elected again for an unprecedented third term from 1990-1994.

Garner said, "Mayor Jackson was the first black mayor of a major southern city and helped pave the way for numerous other black mayors in the South and elsewhere in the U.S., including myself. He demonstrated his strong commitment to equality and civil rights in the way he governed his city, engaged in politics, and acted as a human being. Mayors everywhere learned from him and will miss him."

Former President Jimmy Carter spoke June 26 before a large crowd of on-lookers at the Atlanta City Hall where Jackson laid-in'state. The U.S. Conference of Mayors laid a wreath June 27 during the memorial service in the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel at Morehouse College, where Jackson graduated at the age of 18. The funeral for Jackson, which was open to the public, took place June 28 at the Atlanta Civic Center.

Dignitaries from across the country attended the funeral service. Several of them shared the stage in paying tribute to Jackson, including former President Bill Clinton. He said, "We loved Maynard because he loved us. He loved us with that million-dollar smile. He had that creamy voice that could melt the meanness out of the hardest heart. And he had certain convictions about politics because he knew that politicians made choices that could affect people's lives."

Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin said Jackson was a lion of a man. In her remarks she said that he was fearless, courageous, and an audacious leader. "Maynard was self-confident and willing to sacrifice personally for the things he believed in. With his election he ushered in a new era of politics," Franklin said.

Coretta Scott King, widow of Martin Luther King, Jr. recalled that Jackson could have led a life of quiet prosperity and comfort, but chose a different path. "He heard a different drummer who called him to a life of public service to the least of these. Like Martin Luther King Jr., Maynard Jackson was an incorruptible champion of the poor and pressed, the disadvantaged and the downtrodden. Politics was his ministry and humanity was his cause."

Other program participants who paid tribute to Jackson included former governor of Georgia Roy Barnes, former Atlanta mayor and U.S. Ambassador Andrew Young, Vernon E. Jordan Jr., Congressman John Lewis (GA), President Emeritus of Southern Christian Leadership Council (SCLC) Rev. Joseph E. Lowery, Chairman and CEO of Delta Airlines Leo Mullin, President and CEO of Jackson Securities Reuben McDaniel III, Ingrid Saunders Jones of the Coca Cola Company, and Wayne Martin II, a graduate of Maynard Jackson Youth Foundation.

Cochran commented, "Maynard was a dear friend and strong supporter of The United States Conference of Mayors. His belief and loyalty to this organization was unquestioned. He continued to support and participate in strengthening the Conference of Mayors even after he left office in 1994. His legacy, that touched people throughout this country, will always be remembered."

In addition to Garner and Franklin, other mayors that participated in the weekend services were Denver Mayor Wellington E. Webb, Houston Mayor Lee Brown, Jackson (MS) Mayor Harvey Johnson, Macon (GA) Mayor Jack Ellis, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, East Point (GA) Mayor Patsy Jo Hilliard, Philadelphia Mayor John Street, Washington (DC) Mayor Anthony Williams and former New Orleans mayor and President and CEO of the National Urban League Marc H. Morial.