COLEMAN A. YOUNG (1918 - 1997)

His life & times

1918 Born to William Coleman and Ida Young in Tuscaloosa, Ala. The oldest of five children.

1923 Comes to Detroit with his family. Attends elementary school at old St. Mary's.

1934 Graduates with honors from Eastern High School. Works with his father at tailoring and cleaning shop at St. Aubin and Maple. Applies to University of Michigan and other colleges but is denied financial aid based on race.

1937 Organizes co-workers for Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). Fired from Ford Motor Co. Rouge Plant for union activity.

1941 Helps organize pickets to end segregation in public housing.

1942-45 Serves in U.S. Army Air Corps in Tuskegee 477th Medium-Bomber Group. Participates in sit-ins to end segregation in officers clubs. Is honorably discharged.

1947 Marries Marion McClellan. Becomes organizing secretary of Wayne County CIO.

1948 Demands equal employment for blacks in auto plants and on UAW board. UAW President Walter Reuther opposes him; consequently Young loses Wayne County CIO position.

1952 Testifies before House Un-American Activities Committee.

1951-55 Founding member and executive national secretary of National Negro Labor Council. Divorces Marion McClellan, marries Nadine Drake, works as a cab driver, meat handler and cleaning plant employee.

1959 Mother dies.

1960 Loses Detroit Common Council race.

Divorces Nadine Drake.

1961 Elected a Michigan Constitutional Convention delegate.

1962 Loses race for state House of Representatives.

1964 Elected state senator from Detroit's Fourth District.

1966 Made Democratic floor leader in Senate. Father dies.

1968 First black member of the Democratic National Committee.

1970 Re-elected state senator.

1973 Elected Detroit's first black mayor.

1974 Angers suburbanites in inauguration speech when he tells drug pushers and muggers: "Hit Eight Mile Road!"

Disbands STRESS (Stop the Robberies, Enjoy Safe Streets), a covert operation within police force responsible for killing 17 blacks.

Integrates police force and increases number of blacks in leadership positions.

Refurbishes Belle Isle.

Organizes leaders to develop waterfront; as a result Renaissance Center was built.

1975 Crediting with preventing a riot by walking Livernois Avenue after a white bar owner shoots and kills a black youth.

Wins arbitration ruling requiring police officers to live in Detroit.

1976 Endorses Jimmy Carter, which secures millions of dollars in federal funds for Detroit when Carter takes office.

1977 Wins second four-year term as mayor. Becomes vice chairman of Democratic National Committee.

Keeps Detroit Red Wings from moving to suburbs by financing construction of Joe Louis Arena through city bonds.

Agrees to purchase Tiger Stadium for $15 million.

1978 Opens 50th police mini-station.

Attends groundbreaking for Joe Louis Arena.

1979 Lays off 907 city workers in an effort to correct $80.9 million budget deficit.

1980 Lays off 690 city police officers in effort to correct $115.7 million budget deficit.

Welcomes GOP delegates to convention where Ronald Reagan is nominated.

Opens Joe Louis Arena.

1981 Elected to third term.

Urges voters to approve casino gambling; it loses 63 percent to 37 percent.

Secures land despite community opposition and then breaks ground for $800 million GM Poletown assembly plant.

1982 Elected president of U.S. Conference of Mayors.

Blasts media for printing grand jury leaks of Vista investigation.

1983 Announces plans for new African American Museum in Cultural Center.

1984 National Urban Coalition names him Mayor of the Year.

1985 Elected to fourth term, with 61 percent of vote.

Is jailed for several hours for joining anti-apartheid protest in Washington, D. C.

Attends groundbreaking for Harbortown condos and apartments.

Gets OK from Legislature for $225 million Cobo Hall expansion.

Mobilizes citizens to reduce Devil's Night arsons.

Opens Poletown plant and Millender Center.

Becomes one of the highest paid mayors in the U.S. after a 44 percent raise.

1986 After $438 million incinerator is completed, criticizes EPA for requiring additional anti-pollution measures.

Announces plans to expand City Airport.

Cuts ribbon for Trappers Alley opening.

1987 Opens 12 People Mover stations.

Announces agreement with Mike Ilitch to renovate Fox Theatre as part of downtown entertainment district.

1988 First biography, Coleman Young and Detroit Politics: From Social Activist to Power Broker, is published.

Appoints 64-member commission to study casino gambling; it recommends city could benefit by licensing up to 12 casinos.

1989 Elected to fifth term.

Former city employee Annivory Calvert files paternity suit. Blood tests confirm Young is father of 6-year-old Joel Loving; he agrees to pay $225 a week, sets up $150,000 trust and establishes a relationship with his son.

Refuses Bill Bonds' challenge to fight, saying, "Just because he's sick, doesn't mean I'm crazy."

Linked to former Civilian Deputy Police Chief Kenneth Weiner, who was convicted for stealing $1.3 million from a secret police account. Weiner worked for Young's private company, Detroit Technology and Investments Inc.

1990 State shuts down incinerator, forcing city to add pollution controls.

Cuts former Zoo director Steve Graham's pay for one week after he calls black employees "monkeys."

1991 Appoints Stanley Knox police chief after William Hart is indicted by federal grand jury for stealing more than $2.6 million from police department.

1992 On national television, calls death of Malice Green "murder." He later apologizes.

Asks for 10-percent pay cut from all city workers; lays off 800 when largest labor union refuses to accept pay cut.

Sees Chief Hart sentenced to 10 years in federal penitentiary.

1993 Announces he will not seek a sixth term.