John H. Calhoun

John H. Calhoun Jr. (July 8, 1899 May 6, 1988) was an American civil rights leader and politician who served on the Atlanta City Council representing District1 from 1974 to 1978.

Early life and education John Henry Calhoun Jr. was born on July8, 1899, in Greenville, South Carolina. At the age of 12, he started apprenticing as a blacksmith; Calhoun graduated high school from the Hampton Institute in 1922, at the age of 23. Calhoun also earned a Bachelor of Arts from Morehouse College in 1937, and graduated from Atlanta University in 1968 with an MBA.

Political Work Calhoun worked at the Veteran's Affairs hospital in Tuskeegee starting on July 3, 1923, where he immediately received threats from the Ku Klux Klan.

Calhoun moved to Atlanta in 1934.

Calhoun was a member of the Atlanta City Council for District 1 from 1974 to 1978. Calhoun was a Republican. Mayor Maynard Jackson presented Calhoun with an award in May 1981.

Personal life Outside of politics and activism, Calhoun held a large variety of jobs, working as a bookkeeper, dock worker, janitor, headwaiter, hospital administrator, insurance salesman, real estate agent, and reporter.

John Calhoun Park on Auburn Avenue in Atlanta is named in his honor. Calhoun's papers are housed at the Robert W. Woodruff Library, Atlanta University Center, which include a draft of Calhoun's unpublished book Atlanta The Cradle of Black Leadership in America.

Calhoun died on May 6, 1988, in Atlanta.