Richard G. Hatcher
Richard Gordon Hatcher (born July 10, 1933, Michigan City, Indiana) became on January 1, 1968, the first African-American mayor of Gary, Indiana. He had won election the previous November as one of the first black mayors elected in a northern industrial city and the first in the state of Indiana.
Hatcher earned his B.S. from Indiana University in 1956 and his J.D. from Valparaiso University School of Law in 1959.
Hatcher was inaugurated mayor of Gary in 1967 and served until 1987. During his tenure as mayor, he became internationally known as a fervent and prolific civil rights spokesman. He often delivered speeches alongside Martin Luther King, Robert F. Kennedy, Jesse Jackson, and other historic proponents of the civil rights movement. On April 5, 1968, he addressed President Lyndon B. Johnson, along with a collection of politicians and civil rights leaders, on the topic of the recent King assassination and pending civil unrest.[1][2]
In the 1984 U.S. presidential election, Mayor Hatcher served as the chairman for Jackson's campaign. He subsequently sought the position of Vice-Chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Despite having the endorsement of the party's Black Caucus, he was passed over for the position, in favor of Illinois Comptroller Roland Burris.
Richard G. Hatcher is currently a senior research professor and special assistant to the dean at Valparaiso University School of Law.
[edit] References
- ^ Kotz, Nick (2005). "14. Another Martyr". Judgment days : Lyndon Baines Johnson, Martin Luther King Jr., and the laws that changed America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. p. 417. ISBN 0-618-08825-3.
- ^ Johnson, Lyndon Baines (5 April 1968). "182 - Letter to the Speaker of the House Urging Enactment of the Fair Housing Bill". American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=28785. Retrieved 19 July 2012. "We should pass the Fair Housing law when the Congress convenes next week."
[edit] External links
- Richard Hatcher biography at TheHistoryMakers.com
- Richard Hatcher Collection
- Dave's Den contains a complete political history of Gary, Indiana
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