John C. Daniels (April 25, 1936 – March 14, 2015) was an American politician who served as the mayor of

New Haven New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

from 1990 until 1994.

Early life and career

Daniels was born in

Macon, Georgia Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia. Situated near the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is located southeast of Atlanta and lies near the geographic center of the state of Geo ...

.The Parade of Cities
''

Ebony Ebony is a dense black/brown hardwood, coming from several species in the genus ''Diospyros'', which also contains the persimmons. Unlike most woods, ebony is dense enough to sink in water. It is finely textured and has a mirror finish when pol ...

'', February 1990, pages 30-31 He attended high school at

James Hillhouse High School James Hillhouse High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school in New Haven, Connecticut. It serves grades 9–12. James Hillhouse High School is the oldest public high school in New Haven, and is part of the New Haven Public Scho ...

in New Haven, where he was a standout

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player.Jack Cavanaugh
The Mayor Referees Football And Politics
''The New York Times'', November 18, 1990. He continued his education at

Villanova University Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic church, Roman Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinians in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Sa ...

, where he had an

athletic scholarship An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university or a private high school awarded to an individual based predominantly on his or her ability to play in a sport. Athletic scholarships are common in the United Stat ...

to play football and earned a bachelor's degree in economics, and

Occidental College Occidental College (informally Oxy) is a private liberal arts college in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1887 as a coeducational college by clergy and members of the Presbyterian Church, it became non-sectarian in 1910. It is one of the oldes ...

, where he earned a master's degree in urban studies. Before being elected to the State Senate, Daniels taught in the

West Haven West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some R ...

School System. In the years following his term as mayor, Daniels returned to teaching in the Hamden and East Haven school systems.

Political career

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, Daniels served in the

Connecticut State Senate The Connecticut State Senate is the upper house of the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The state senate comprises 36 members, each representing a district with around 99,280 inhabitants. Sena ...

.Before he was elected mayor, Daniels served in the

representing Connecticut's Tenth Senatorial District, which included parts of

and

. He also served on the New Haven Board of Aldermen in the 1970s. In 1989, he challenged incumbent New Haven mayor Democrat Biagio DiLieto in the Democratic

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Works * ...

. DeLieto chose not to run and, instead, supported his aide,

John DeStefano, Jr. John DeStefano Jr. (born May 11, 1955) is an American politician who served as the List of mayors of New Haven, Connecticut, 49th mayor of New Haven, Connecticut, New Haven, Connecticut, from 1994 until 2014. He was the Democratic Party (United ...

Daniels won the hotly contested primary which, in heavily Democratic New Haven, was tantamount to winning the general election. Daniels became the city's first

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

mayor. He was easily reelected in 1991. He stepped down after two terms and was succeeded by DeStefano. Among Daniels' accomplishments as mayor was the introduction of community based policing to deal with the growing crime and drug problems in New Haven. Under his administration, the city became a model of community policing and pioneered many police strategies later adopted by larger cities. Daniels was a deacon at the Dixwell Congregational Church (

United Church of Christ The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Calvinist, Lutheran, and Anabaptist traditions, and with approximately 4 ...

) in New Haven. In 2006, the John C. Daniels Elementary School opened, named in his honor. A city of New Haven public school, it is operated as an interdistrict

magnet school In the U.S. education system, magnet schools are public schools with specialized courses or curricula. "Magnet" refers to how the schools draw students from across the normal boundaries defined by authorities (usually school boards) as school ...

providing

bilingual education In bilingual education, students are taught in two (or more) languages. It is distinct from learning a second language as a subject because both languages are used for instruction in different content areas like math, science, and history. The t ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

for students from prekindergarten to grade 8.

Death

Daniels died on March 14, 2015.John C. Daniels-obituary
legacy.com; accessed April 17, 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Daniels, John 1936 births 2015 deaths People from Macon, Georgia African-American state legislators in Connecticut Democratic Party Connecticut state senators Connecticut city council members Mayors of New Haven, Connecticut Occidental College alumni United Church of Christ members Villanova University alumni Villanova Wildcats football players African-American mayors in Connecticut 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people