Coleman Alexander Young (1918-1997) was elected Detroit's first African American mayor in 1973 and served until 1993, longer than any other Detroit mayor.

Born in Tuscaloosa, AL, on May 24, 1918, Coleman Young was the oldest of five children born to Coleman and Ida Reese (Jones) Young. His family moved to Detroit's "Black Bottom" neighborhood when he was five. "Black Bottom" was the center of African American culture and politics in segregated Detroit in the era before World War II. Young's father set up a tailor shop and also worked for the post office. Young attended a Catholic elementary school and Eastern High School, graduating with honors. Working on the assembly line for the Ford Motor Company, Young took part in the sitdown strikes of 1937. He served in World War II as a second lieutenant and bombadier-navigator. During the postwar period Young worked as a union organizer for the Congress of Industrial...