The late Coleman Young first made history in 1974 after being elected Detroit’s first Black mayor. On this day in 1981, Mayor Coleman’s third-term win was supported by a pair of elections of Black mayors who also made history.
James Everett Chase, born March 29 1914, was elected as the first Black mayor of Spokane, Wash. Chase, who had Texas roots, was a popular fixture in the northwest city after he was elected as Spokane’s first Black City Council member in 1975. Chase, who never finished high school because of the Great Depression in the ’30’s, traveled from El Paso, Texas to Spokane for work.
Chase worked as a shoe-shiner and as an auto repair business owner before getting involved in civil rights via the NAACP. Chase served as the NAACP’s Spokane chapter president for 17 years. Chase also established the Chase Youth Commission organization, which still functions today and provides opportunities for young people.
Thirman Milner’s path to politics was a far more curious one as he never considered himself a politician. But as a young man at New York University, Milner had the opportunity to hear Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. speak.
The pharmacy student hailed from humble beginnings in Hartford as his mother raised him while on welfare. After becoming an active voice for civil rights in his hometown, Milner was urged by friends to run for office. Milner’s first run for a State House seat was lost by just three votes and soured the young leader temporarily. However, he was pushed to run again and won in 1978. Two years later, Milner was elected mayor and served a single term.
Milner was not only the first Black mayor of Hartford, but also the first Black mayor in all of New England. His win helped prime voters for the election of the city’s first Black female mayor, Carrie Saxon Perry.
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