Bunnie Jackson-Ransom was an influential businesswoman and community leader based in Atlanta, Georgia. A pioneer and trailblazer affectionately known as Bunnie, Jackson-Ransom also served as Atlanta’s first Black first lady when her then-husband, the honorable Maynard Holbrook Jackson Jr., was elected the city’s first Black mayor in 1973. After their divorce, she enjoyed a successful career as a public relations & marketing professional, music executive, educator, and author, serving as a mentor to young women entrepreneurs and budding public relations professionals across the American South and nation.
Born on November 16, 1940, as Burnella Hayes Jackson, the only child of Burnalle James Hayes and Elizabeth Day Hayes in Louisburg, North Carolina, Jackson-Ransom matriculated at the Franklin County (North Carolina) Training School and graduated valedictorian of the school’s class of 1957. Later that year, she enrolled in North Carolina College (now North Carolina Central University), where she majored in business. Jackson-Ransom graduated valedictorian of her college class of 1961 and earned a Master of Business Administration in 1969.
Upon moving to Atlanta in 1965, Jackson-Ransom went right to work, joining the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and other efforts to support civil rights. In the late 1960s, she served as Director of Planning for Economic Opportunity Atlanta (EOA), traveling directly into low-income communities to administer federal grant funds. In the field, Jackson-Ransom partnered with elite corporate leaders like Jesse Hill (President of Atlanta Life Insurance Company) as well as grassroots organizers including Susie LaBord, Louise Watley, Ethel May Matthews, Rosel Fann, Tacuma Jerry Brown, and domestic workers’ rights advocate Dorothy Bolden. Yet, starting in 1968, she lived in the public spotlight, becoming Atlanta’s first Black first lady in 1973. Though her marriage to Atlanta’s first Black mayor ended in 1976, it was during this period that she cultivated her life’s work—public relations and marketing.
In December of 1975, Bunnie founded First Class, Inc., Atlanta’s first full-service public relations and marketing firm established by a Black woman. Her first clients included the Southern Conference of Black Mayors (later named the National Conference of Black Mayors), CHM2MHill (Engineers), Checkers Restaurant, Citizens Trust Bank, the Coca-Cola Company, H.J. Russell Company, Grady Hospital, McDonald’s, Road Scholar, and Warner Brothers. Furthermore, she joined the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau to ensure that the firm could serve all conventions hosted by the city. Also, Jackson-Ransom served as President of Atlanta Artists Management, where she was responsible for managing Atlanta Artist Productions and Atlanta Artists Records, in addition to managing the recording career of acts such as CAMEO, Larry Blackmon, and The S.O.S. Band. She managed multi-million-dollar record sales, toured the world with performances and promotions, negotiated production deals for her artists, and carried these recording artists to gold and platinum record status. In 1978, Jackson-Ransom married Ray Ransom, who played bass guitar with the group BRICK, which added to her footprint in bringing Black music industry to Atlanta. Her and Ransom later divorced.
Jackson-Ransom was a true lover of the arts and left an indelible impression on the Atlanta arts community. She was responsible for the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater’s return to Atlanta. She also brought the first major African American art exhibition to the High Museum by convincing the museum director to let her hang an exhibition by Ernie Barnes, her college mate, in the galleria of Symphony Hall. Because of the success of this exhibition, the High Museum invited other Black artists – including Bennie Andrews and Romare Bearden – to exhibit. She served on the board of directors of the Atlanta Symphony and was instrumental in bringing Gladys Knight and the Pips to perform with the Symphony.
Jackson-Ransom penned two books and was a member of the National Council of Negro Women; the Atlanta Association of Black Journalists; the Atlanta Branch of the NAACP; the Azalea Chapter of The Links, Inc.; and the Metropolitan Atlanta Coalition of 100 Black Women. She was a former president of the Atlanta Chapter of Jack & Jill; a former member of the Board of Directors of the Partnership Against Domestic Violence; a former member of the Board of Directors of the Atlanta Business League; and a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., where she served as past local chapter president and past chairman of the National Projects Committee. She was a past president of the Metropolitan Atlanta Coalition of 100 Black Women and a past Chairperson of the Georgia Human Relations Commission. She also organized the Cascade Heights branch of the League of Women Voters.
Bunnie Jackson-Ransom died on February 2, 2023, after a short illness surrounded by her family and friends. A pioneer and trailblazer, she penned her own life, summing it up as a life well lived. Her enduring legacy was defined by her deep commitment to civic engagement and empowering marginalized communities.
The post Bunnie Jackson-Ransom (1940-2023) appeared first on BlackPast.org.