TO THE CHAPTER INVISIBLE
In 1997, Arrington resigned from the City Council to enter the 1997 Atlanta mayoral election. Arrington lost a bitterly fought and contested election to incumbent Bill Campbell. In 2002, Geor- gia Governor Roy Barnes appointed Arrington to the Fulton County Superior Court and retired from the bench in 2012. Among Arrington’s
Among Arrington’s Atlanta City Council achievements • Ushered in several “quality of life” ordinances to fight vagrancy in the city. • Championed funding for the poorly operated Zoo Atlanta. Arrington devised a plan to issue bonds to finance the zoo’s renovation. A decade later, Zoo Atlanta was considered one of the best facilities of its kind in the nation. • Introduced legislation to support federal prohibitions against housing discrimination and he ensured aggressive enforcement of state and federal housing laws designated to stabilize transitional neighborhoods; • Introduced legislation that made MLK’s birthday a city holiday, • Spearheaded Atlanta’s efforts to include minority-owned banks as equal partners with other participating banks.
Arrington speaking at a press conference. Inset: His autobiography, Making My Mark: The Story of a Man Who Wouldn’t Stay in His Place.
numerous honors and achievements, Atlanta
the Fraternity as a 1960 initiate of the Clark College Chapter, the Gamma Kappa of the Kappa Alpha Psi, where he served the chapter as Dean of Pledges in the 1961-62 school year. Past Grand Polemarch Samuel Hamilton (Gamma Kappa 1963) frequently credited Arrington with influencing his decision to join the Fraternity. After graduating with
representative for the Office of Economic Opportunity as part of U.S. President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty. Based in South Carolina, Arrington worked to improve education and healthcare programs for local citizens. In 1969, the 28-year-old Arrington was elected in 1969 to the Atlanta Board of Alderman (now called the Atlanta City Council), the youngest person elected to the board to date. In 1980, he was elected City Council president, which he led for 17 years. In 1989, Arrington and the late Donald L. Hollowell (Beta Lambda 1940), the 18th Laurel Wreath Laureate, formed the law firm of Arrington and Hollowell, specializing in corporate bonds, labor relations, litigation, and worker’s compensation.
Magazine, in 1983, selected Arrington as “One of Atlan- ta’s Top 25 Lawyers,” and Georgia Trend named him “Among the 100 Most Influ- ential People in Georgia.” In 1988, Emory Law presented Arrington with its Distin- guished Alumni Award from the law school, while the University conferred its most prestigious alumni award, the Emory Medal. In 1998, the Georgia Bar Association gave Arrington its highest community service award, The Chief Justice Robert Benham Award for Community Service. Arrington also received the Seth Kirschen- baum Diversity Award and the Clarence Cooper Legacy Award for Community Service. In 1995, Arrington was inducted into the Clark Atlanta University Sports
a B.A. degree in 1963, Arrington attended
Howard University School of Law for one year before returning home to Atlanta to attend Emory Univer- sity School of Law. When Arrington graduated with a J.D. degree in 1967, he was one of the law school’s first African American graduates. Upon gradu- ating from Emory Law, Arrington worked as a field
• Led funding efforts to build a statue of
Baseball Hall of Famer Hank Aaron, outside the entrance of Turner Field, now the previous home
of the major league baseball team, the Atlanta Braves.
94 THE JOURNAL ♦ SUMMER 2023
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