Politics / Law
Jerome Cavanagh
1928–1979 · lawyer, mayor of Detroit
Detroit-born Kennedy-era liberal who won an upset in 1961, marched with Martin Luther King Jr. in 1963 and was mayor during the 1967 uprising; first mayor to live in the Manoogian Mansion.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan- Died
Lexington, Kentucky
aged 51- Birth name
- Jerome Patrick Cavanagh
- Also known as
- Jerome P. Cavanagh
- Detroit years
- 1928–1979
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Jerome Cavanagh was born in Detroit in 1928, the son of a Ford boilermaker, and earned his undergraduate and law degrees at the University of Detroit. At 33, in his first campaign, he ousted Mayor Louis Miriani in 1961 with a surge of Black votes after criticizing police brutality and the city's finances. He named a reform police commissioner, launched affirmative action in city agencies and in June 1963 walked beside Martin Luther King Jr. down Woodward Avenue in the Walk to Freedom. He drew heavy federal money through the War on Poverty and Model Cities programs and in 1966 led both the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the National League of Cities. That year he became the first mayor to live in the Manoogian Mansion. The July 1967 uprising, which killed 43 people, shattered his reputation, and he did not run again in 1969. He died in 1979 and is buried at Mount Elliott Cemetery.
Highlights
- Mayor of Detroit, 1962–1970
- Marched with Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1963 Walk to Freedom
- Only mayor to lead the U.S. Conference of Mayors and National League of Cities at once (1966)
- First mayor to reside in the Manoogian Mansion
- Mayor during the 1967 Detroit uprising
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 2
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Lived here · 1966–1970
Manoogian Mansion
Riverfront mansion donated by industrialist Alex Manoogian as the mayor's official residence; he was its first mayoral occupant.
Buried here · 1979
Mount Elliott Cemetery
Detroit's oldest Catholic cemetery, where he is buried.