starbet777 Thirman Milner, Hartford Mayor Who Broke Race Barrier, Dies at 91
Thirman Milner, who in 1981 became the first popularly elected Black mayor in New England, in Hartford, Conn., and went on to serve three terms, died on Nov. 29 at his home there. He was 91.
His death was confirmed by his stepdaughter Virginia Monteiro, the first vice chairwoman of the Connecticut and the Greater Hartford branches of the N.A.A.C.P.
The sixth of seven children of a widowed domestic worker who periodically depended on welfare, Mr. Milner dropped out of high school, joined the Air Force, earned an equivalency diploma and was studying at New York University to become a pharmacist when he heard the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speak in New York City. He decided then to become a civil rights activist.
He traveled to the South to protest against racial segregation, then returned to Hartford, the state’s capital and one of the nation’s poorest cities at the time. There, he said, he discovered that discrimination against Black people was even worse. He grudgingly agreed to enter politics, serving two terms in the State Legislature before challenging Mayor George A. Athanson, Hartford’s flamboyant incumbent, who had served since 1971 and was seeking a sixth term.
Mr. Athanson won the 1981 Democratic mayoral primary by 94 votes. But Mr. Milner charged fraud, raising questions about absentee ballots and delays in opening a polling place in a Black neighborhood. A court ordered a new election. On the second try, Mr. Milner captured the nomination by a decisive 9,167 to 6,258 votes. He handily won the general election and, preaching unity, was re-elected in 1983 and 1985.
Gov. Ned Lamont, a fellow Democrat, said in a statement that Mr. Milner had “used his influence to enact positive change in Hartford, particularly focusing many of his efforts on the need to ensure that all children — no matter their family’s income level or the neighborhood where they grew up — have access to a quality education.”
We are having trouble retrieving the article content.
Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Already a subscriber? Log in.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.starbet777
