Photo: jon gos / CC BY 2.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
What grabs me about Shirley Franklin is how quietly historic her run was. Becoming Atlanta's 58th mayor as the first woman and the first Black woman to lead a major Southern city is not a footnote, it is a turning point. A Philadelphia native and Howard University graduate, she clearly came up through the civil rights era and chose governance over grandstanding. That 2005 Profile in Courage Award tells me she made hard calls and stood by them. I admire builders like her who fix budgets and infrastructure instead of chasing headlines, and her later board work only reinforces that steady, serious reputation.
Overview
Shirley Clarke Franklin (born May 10, 1945) is an American politician, a member of the Democratic Party who served as the 58th mayor of Atlanta, Georgia, from 2002 to 2010. She has also served as a member on the board of directors for Delta Air Lines and Mueller Water Products. The 58th mayor of Atlanta, she was the first woman to hold the post and the first black woman to be elected mayor of a major Southern city.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Shirley Franklin
- Name (Japanese)
- シャーリー・クラーク・フランクリン
- Reading
- しゃーりー・くらーく・ふらんくりん
- Born
- May 10, 1945 (age 81)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Taurus / Rooster
- Origin
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- politician
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Howard University
Awards & achievements
- 2005 Profile in Courage Award
- 2006 honorary degree from Spelman College
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Politician — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.