Payne, Coy

Coy Payne came to Chandler with his family in the 1940s.  The family settled in the N.J. Harris/Kesler neighborhood of Chandler, and Coy worked picking cotton, delivering newspapers, and other jobs to make money.  He attended the segregated Goodyear School in Chandler, then Carver High School in Phoenix.  Coy attended Arizona State University and became a teacher.  Frustrated at the lack of opportunities for African Americans in Chandler, Payne ran for public office, and eventually became the city's and state's first African American mayor, serving two terms in that office from 1990 to 1994.

To see pictures of Coy Payne, click HERE

To read a transcript of a 2005 oral history with Coy Payne, click HERE