Jackie Vaughn III (November 17, 1917 – September 13, 2006) was a Democratic member of both houses of the

Michigan Legislature The Michigan Legislature is the legislature of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is organized as a bicameral body composed of the Senate (the upper chamber) and the House of Representatives (the lower chamber). Article IV of the Michigan Con ...

for over three decades.2001-2002 Michigan Manual
State Senator Jackie Vaughn III
/ref> Born in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

, in 1917, Vaughn moved to

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

in 1944. He studied at

Oberlin Oberlin may refer to: ; Places in the United States * Oberlin Township, Decatur County, Kansas ** Oberlin, Kansas, a city in the township * Oberlin, Louisiana, a town * Oberlin, Ohio, a city * Oberlin, Licking County, Ohio, a ghost town * Oberlin, ...

and Hillsdale colleges before being a

Fulbright Scholar The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the peopl ...

and fellow at

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

. Vaughn was elected to the

Michigan House of Representatives The Michigan House of Representatives is the lower house of the Michigan Legislature. There are 110 members, each of whom is elected from constituencies having approximately 77,000 to 91,000 residents, based on population figures from the 2020 ...

in 1966 and served six terms before his election to the

Michigan Senate The Michigan Senate is the upper house of the Michigan Legislature. Along with the Michigan House of Representatives, it composes the state legislature, which has powers, roles and duties defined by Article IV of the Michigan Constitution, ado ...

. One hallmark of his tenure was the establishment of a holiday in Michigan to honor

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...

He was also known for his devotion to the Hartford Memorial Baptist Church. He was also elected president ''pro tempore'' of the Senate in 1983, becoming the first African-American to hold the position, and was later named associate president ''pro tempore''. Vaughn suffered a stroke in 2000 after checking himself into the hospital in

Lansing Lansing () is the capital city of the U.S. state of Michigan. The most populous city in Ingham County, parts of the city extend into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. It is the sixth-most populous city in Michigan with a popul ...

and was excused from Senate session for the remaining two years of his term. When he left the Senate in 2002, the Senate recognized him as having "'fought the good fight' on behalf of the people of Detroit," and that his "consistent efforts on behalf of young people, his tireless leadership in promoting the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, and his advocacy of programs to help the needy have earned him widespread respect." Vaughn was a member of

Omicron Delta Kappa Omicron Delta Kappa (), also known as The Circle and ODK, is an American collegiate honor society that recognizes leadership and scholarship. It was founded in 1914, at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia and has chartered more t ...

, the

Elks The Embeddable Linux Kernel Subset (ELKS), formerly known as Linux-8086, is a Linux-like operating system kernel. It is a subset of the Linux kernel, intended for 16-bit computers with limited processor and memory resources such as machines pow ...

, and a

Freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

. He died on September 13, 2006, aged 88.The Political Graveyard
Vaughn, Jackson III
/ref>

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vaughn, Jackie 1917 births 2006 deaths Politicians from Birmingham, Alabama Politicians from Detroit American Freemasons African-American state legislators in Michigan Alumni of the University of Oxford Oberlin College alumni Hillsdale College alumni Democratic Party Michigan state senators Democratic Party members of the Michigan House of Representatives 21st-century members of the Michigan Legislature Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Detroit) 20th-century African-American politicians 21st-century African-American politicians 20th-century members of the Michigan Legislature