Harold Washington

Political Biography: Harold Washington

(b. Chicago, 15 Apr. 1922; d. 25 Nov. 1987) US; member of Illinois State Legislature 1966 – 80, member of the US House of Representatives 1981 – 2, mayor of Chicago 1983 – 7 The son of a Methodist minister and Democratic party activist, Washington spent his life immersed in the politics of Chicago. Following distinguished war service in the air force, Washington attended Roosevelt College and Northwestern Law School. Although he served as counsel for the Chicago corporation for a brief period, he was drawn to elective politics and ran successfully for the State Legislature in 1964. He served in the Illinois House of Representatives from 1966 to 1976 and in its Senate 1978 – 80. Initially he was part of the powerful political machine that supported Mayor Richard Daley; but he later broke with the Cook County Democratic establishment and formed a coaltion of support built primarily on the black and growing Hispanic communities. In 1980 he ran as an independent candidate in the Illinois 1st District (the South Side) and defeated the official Democratic candidate.

In Congress, Washington became identified with black issues especially the battle to extend the protections against discrimination offered by the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Chicago politics reclaimed him when in 1983 he was persuaded to enter the Democratic primary race for mayor, a contest which acquired national significance. Washington's opponents were the incumbent mayor, Jane Byrne (who had alienated her black support) and Richard M. Daley, the son of the former mayor (who was largely dependent on conservative ethnic voters). The contest opened up Democratic Party divisions as Walter Mondale backed Daley and Edward Kennedy backed Byrne. Washington received support from Jesse Jackson, a long-time opponent of the Daley machine. Washington won the primary and the general election in which racial divisions polarized as many white Democrats switched their vote to Republican Bernard Epton. Washington thus became Chicago's first black mayor. While many regretted the role which race played in the campaigns, Washington became a symbol of black political achievement and one of a number of key elected black officials who could play a role in the national debate about urban policy.

In office Washington's record was mixed. He displayed caution in economic matters and attempted to reassure the financial community by balancing the budget. The intractable problems of housing, poverty, crime, and white flight to the suburbs posed challenges to his administration which he was only partially able to address. His own style of machine politics incorporated minorities but was by no means free of corruption. Moreover, it lacked the administrative efficiency of the defunct Daley machine.

Despite doubts about many aspects of Washington's policies, he was re-elected in 1987. Although race was still a factor, Washington had by that stage transcended much of the sectarianism associated with his first term. His unexpected death so soon after re-election deprived the black community of a formidable political operator.

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Black Biography: Harold Washington

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Personal Information

Born April 15, 1922, in Chicago, IL; died November 25, 1987, in Chicago; son of Roy L., Sr. (a lawyer and assistant city prosecutor) and Bertha (a domestic worker; maiden name, Jones) Washington; married wife, Dorothy, 1941 (divorced 1951).
Education: Roosevelt University, B.A., 1949; Northwestern University Law School, J.D., 1952.
Politics: Democrat.
Religion: Progressive Community Church.
Military/Wartime Service: U.S. Army Air Force, 1942-45.
Memberships: Cook County Bar Association, Illinois Bar Association, National Bar Association, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Urban League, American Veterans Association, Americans for Democratic Action (vice president), Washington Youth and Community Organization (president).

Career

Assistant city prosecutor, City of Chicago, 1954-58; arbitrator, Illinois Industrial Commission, 1960-64; member of Illinois House of Representatives, 1965-76; member of Illinois Senate, 1976-80; member of U.S. House of Representatives, 1980-83; mayor of Chicago, 1983-87. Member of board of directors of Mid-South Mental Health Association and Suburban Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

Life's Work

Chicago, America's third largest city, is home to the country's greatest black population and, according to many studies, its most segregated city. For years it epitomized the power of big city "machine" politics as its influential Democratic party allowed a shrinking white minority to maintain political control. But in 1983 a local African American politician named Harold Washington forged a coalition outside of the political mainstream, turning his campaign for mayor into a civil rights crusade for black Chicagoans.

By winning the election, Washington became a symbol of black hope and a national figure overnight. At home, Chicago's white political machine formed an alliance to fight all his attempts at political reform. Washington refused to compromise or yield, gradually strengthening his reformist coalition through his equal treatment of all ethnic groups within the city when it came to jobs, housing, and other progressive issues. Then, shortly after winning re-election to a second mayoral term in 1987, Washington suddenly died of a massive heart attack. His hard-won coalition quickly unraveled in the heated battle over succession, leaving many of his plans unfulfilled.

Washington was born on Chicago's segregated South Side in 1922, when the city was still a Republican stronghold. His father, Roy Washington, Sr., was one of the area's few black Democrats. The elder Washington had moved north to Chicago from a small town in Kentucky, working in a meat-packing house by day, attending law school at night, and serving as Democratic precinct captain in charge of recruiting black voters for his party. After graduating, he opened a solo law practice, struggling for years before landing a city job as assistant prosecutor working out of a South Side police station.

As a child, Harold Washington grew up surrounded by the black political elite, running errands for the Democratic organization. By the age of 14 he was helping his father in the precinct. At Du Sable High School, he was noted for his constant reading and athletic skill--he won the 110-yard high hurdles in a 1939 citywide track meet. Claiming he was no longer challenged by schoolwork, he dropped out between his junior and senior years.

Washington went to work in a packing plant before his father used connections to land him a desk job at the local U.S. Treasury office. At nineteen, he married Dorothy, a girl who lived in his building. Seven months later, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, and he was drafted into the Army Air Force, ending up as a first sergeant and soil technician in the South Pacific. Between missions he earned his high school equivalency diploma.

Returning home in 1945, he enrolled in Roosevelt University, a new college that was a bold experiment in higher education. Located in a former downtown Chicago hotel/office building, the university was one of the few integrated schools in the country. It gave Washington his first sustained contact with whites. He became a serious student, hardworking and focused, and was elected senior class president in 1949 by his classmates, 95 percent of whom were white.

After graduation, he attended Northwestern University's law school, graduating in 1952 and going into practice with his father. Across the hall was the office of the new ward committeeman and alderman, Ralph Metcalfe, a former Olympic sprinter and popular black figure in the city. When Washington's father died in 1954, Metcalfe offered the younger Washington a job as assistant city prosecutor on the condition that he take over his father's duties as Democratic precinct captain.

Washington quickly discovered that politics was his true vocation. Soon he was spending more time working in the precinct than in his office, becoming Metcalfe's ward secretary and head of the ward's Young Democrats group. He helped build the Third Ward into one of the most loyal pro-machine organizations in the Democratic party, effectively turning out the vote each election.

This was the era of Mayor Richard J. Daley, who ruled Chicago from 1955 until his death in 1976. His Democratic party was the last, great big city political machine. It was said that nothing got done in Chicago without his approval. The party's ultimate source of power was the thousands of patronage jobs it controlled and skillfully used to reward loyal workers like Washington.

No part of the electorate was more under Daley's thumb than the local African American community, even though countless studies singled out Chicago as the nation's most segregated city. Daley loyalists ran the public housing projects, the local welfare organizations, and counted numerous black preachers among their fold. In the 1963 mayoral election, Metcalfe and Washington's Third Ward delivered more votes for Daley's successful re-election than any other ward except the mayor's own.

The following year, Washington was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives from a South Side district. During his six terms from 1965 through 1976, he began to demonstrate his political independence by frequently voting against machine-sanctioned bills and helping to organize the legislature's first black caucus. He began to make a reputation as an innovative legislator and eloquent orator, sponsoring consumer protection bills, a fair housing code, and a civilian review board to investigate widespread charges of police brutality against Chicago's black population. Still, he would return to Chicago each election to turn out the black vote for the so-called machine.

Daley died in 1976. In a special mayoral election held to replace him the following year, Washington came in a distant third with only 11 percent of the vote, losing even among black voters. But according to author Gary Rivlin in Fire on the Prairie: Chicago's Harold Washington and the Politics of Race, he responded to the defeat by telling a group of black journalists, "I'm going to stay outside of that damn Democratic organization and give them hell."

Washington moved to the state Senate in 1977, serving there through 1980. Eleven times his colleagues voted him one of the ten best state legislators. He got his revenge against Chicago's Democratic party when he handily defeated its candidate in the 1980 congressional primary, and then won the seat with 92 percent of the vote against his Republican opponent. As a liberal Democrat in the conservative Reagan era, Washington consistently opposed proposed cuts in social services and increases in military spending. He led the fight in Congress to extend the 1965 Voting Rights Act, resulting in the most significant civil rights victory of Reagan's first term. The Congressional Quarterly ranked him fifth among all 435 members of the House of Representatives in anti-Reagan votes.

Being a member of Congress fulfilled a lifelong dream for Washington. Freed from the endless infighting of Chicago politics and re-elected with 97 percent of the vote in 1982, he told people he would be happy spending the rest of his career in Congress. But black Chicagoans had other ideas.

Different fractions in the city's large black community had been meeting and making plans to elect a black mayor in 1983. For once black nationalists, black community activists, and black businesspeople were pledging to work in union, brought together by a mutual antagonist, Mayor Jane Byrne.

Many people of color had supported Byrne in her "antimachine" mayoral candidacy in 1979, helping her win the Democratic primary. African American voters hoped for a fair share of city-controlled patronage jobs, improved municipal services, and more attention paid to their community. But once she became mayor, Byrne made peace with Chicago's Democratic organization, helping machine alderman Edward Vrdolyak become the local Democratic party chairman. In return, Vrdolyak became her floor leader in the city council. Byrne's hiring of African Americans for new city jobs fell from 47 percent in her first two years to 28 percent in 1982. The final straw was her appointment of enough whites to the governing board of the Chicago Housing Authority, in charge of the city's huge public housing projects, to tip its racial balance.

Local black leaders responded by organizing a successful boycott of ChicagoFest, the city's summer entertainment festival, in 1982. Then they turned up the heat against Byrne in the black-controlled press and radio stations as well as in neighborhood churches.

Washington was approached to be the black candidate. Always the shrewd politician, he realized that black voter registration lagged behind whites. "Give me 50,000 new voters," he said at one meeting, "and I'll run." Local organizers took up the challenge, and by November of 1982 more than 100,000 new black voters had been registered. In that month's election, Chicago's black wards set a record with a 65 percent voter turnout. Finally convinced of the support he would need, Washington announced his candidacy with a speech exclaiming, "We shall see in '83!"

His opponents in the Democratic party primary were Mayor Byrne and Richard M. Daley, Cook County state attorney (equivalent to district attorney) and son of the former mayor. Both were far better known outside of the black community and had more money to spend on their campaigns.

But Washington's campaign quickly took on the aspects of a religious crusade in the black community, particularly after he exhorted in an early speech, "It's our turn." An additional 30,000 blacks registered to vote, marking a 25 percent increase in black registration in one year and bringing African Americans up to 40 percent of the registered voters, equivalent to their percentage of the city's population.

Blue Washington campaign buttons became a source of black pride. Enthusiastic crowds greeted his appearances at black churches and housing projects, stops often alien to white politicians, chanting "Ha-rold, Ha-rold." Washington also made effective use of his frequent airtime on the city's black-oriented radio stations.

Still, he ran as more than just a black candidate, vowing to reform city government and destroy the old Democratic party machine. He pledged to do away with the patronage system, establish a civilian review board to hear complaints against the police, and revitalize the local neighborhoods through economic development. Four televised debates helped to legitimize his candidacy among the electorate by clearly establishing his superiority as an orator and wit over his two opponents.

Seeing themselves slipping in the pre-election polls, Daley and Byrne took to sniping at each other. On the weekend before the February 22 election, Democratic party chairman Vrdolyak sought to mobilize a group of white precinct captains. As recounted by author Gary Rivlin, he was unaware that two reporters had sneaked into the meeting when he said, "It's a racial thing. Don't kid yourself.... We're fighting to keep the city the way it is."

His words backfired, further motivating black voters instead. On election day, 72 percent of the registered electorate voted. It was a close race. Washington won by 33,000 votes out of the 1.2 million cast, taking 36 percent of the vote to Byrne's 34 percent and Daley's 30 percent. The latter two candidates split the white vote almost fifty-fifty. Washington won 85 percent of the black vote, and could have won without capturing a single white vote.

In Chicago, winning the Democratic mayoral primary was tantamount to election since the city's feeble Republican party had not elected a mayor since 1927. Washington's opponent was Bernard Epton, a former state legislator who vowed not to make race an issue. Many others, however, had a different idea. The Epton campaign was soon flooded with cash contributions and outside political consultants. Although the Democratic party officially endorsed Washington, eight of the party's 14 white committee members endorsed Epton. Some of the remaining six had their precinct workers actively soliciting for the Republican opponent.

Epton sensed victory. Almost overnight he had been transformed from a political nobody into the great white hope. The trick was to devise a campaign to exploit racial hostilities without mentioning race. Epton seized upon the integrity issue, repeatedly bringing up Washington's past legal problems.

Washington certainly had not led the most ordered of lives. He worked too hard, ate too much, and slept too little. He had divorced his wife long ago, and friends described his bachelor apartment as looking more like a motel room than a home. The refrigerator was usually empty, clothes were unwashed, and the floors were strewn with books, magazines, and newspapers that he had been reading. His distracted air carried over into his professional life as well. The Illinois Supreme Court suspended his law license for a year in 1970 for failing to perform work for several of his clients. The Internal Revenue Service fined him $1,000 and sentenced him to 40 days in jail for failing to file income tax returns for four years, despite the fact that he only owed $505.08.

But for many conservative white ethnic voters, this was enough of a socially acceptable reason not to vote for Washington. "Whites for Epton" buttons appeared on the city's northwest and southwest sides and "Epton--Before It's Too Late" became the Republican candidate's new slogan. The racially charged campaign was drawing national attention. People magazine ran a story entitled "Hatred Walks the Street," while Newsweek countered with a cover story entitled "Chicago's Ugly Election." With the 1983 mayoral election only two weeks away, polls showed the two candidates almost in a dead heat.

Then, in the final two weeks of the campaign, the tide turned. On Palm Sunday, Washington visited a northwest side church with Walter Mondale, the Democratic presidential frontrunner for 1984. An angry crowd accosted the candidate with verbal taunts. Pictures from the scene clearly recorded the hatred on faces in the crowd, forcing many voters to personally confront their own racism. In addition, Washington began campaigning 16 hours a day, focusing on the liberal white lakefront wards and predominantly Hispanic neighborhoods.

On April 12, 1983, a record 79 percent of registered voters participated. Washington received 51 percent of the vote, winning by fewer than 50,000 of the 1.3 million votes cast. Black turnout was an amazing 85 percent, and Washington captured 99 percent of their ballots. What won him the election, however, was gaining more than 80 percent of the Hispanic vote. Washington's victory made him a national figure overnight. He made several trips to other cities to encourage black voter registration. He also became a role model for black youths.

In his inaugural address, Washington promised reform, attacking the ongoing waste and fraud of the Democratic party machine that he said was destroying Chicago. His speech was a condemnation of the party's lifelong organization politicians, and many began to fear for their careers. Vrdolyak quickly organized 28 other aldermen into a solid bloc to oppose the 21 pro-Washington members of the city council. By continual votes of 29-21, the Vrdolyak faction reorganized the city council, putting machine loyalists in control of all the powerful key committees--like zoning and finance--that controlled the traditional flow of money and power that had fueled the city government for decades.

But Washington refused to compromise with the machine or with some of his black allies on the city council who wanted their share of the spoils. Though all his proposals would be defeated by a constant 29-21 vote, and all Vrdolyak counter measures passed 29-21, the machine faction could not override his certain veto. City government came to a standstill. Local pundits called it "Council Wars." "Beirut on the Lake" is how the Wall Street Journal described the stalemate.

Still, Washington managed to introduce some measure of reform to city government. Inheriting a large budget deficit, he laid off 700 city employees--the first mayor in memory to do so--and cut his own salary by 20 percent. He signed the Shakman decree, officially outlawing patronage hiring and firing, created a freedom of information act by executive decree, and encouraged economic development in neighborhoods throughout the city instead of solely concentrating on the downtown area. When vacancies occurred, he hired many more women, blacks, and Hispanics for top positions. He even managed to get the council to approve his nomination of an African American to be the new police chief, and a compromise was reached on the city budget. Chicago inched forward.

The continual council wars were beginning to take their toll on Washington. His temper quickened, his weight ballooned, and his health started to deteriorate. Then, in 1986, a federal judge ruled that the Byrne administration's previous ward redistricting violated the Voting Rights Act. Despite a rising black and Hispanic population, the Byrne redistricting had reduced the number of black majority wards from 19 to 17 and did not provide for a Latino ward. New boundaries were drawn up for seven wards, all currently under control of the Vrdolyak 29, and special city council elections were ordered for March 1986.

Pro-Washington candidates won in two of the new black wards and two new Latino wards, creating a 25-25 council split with the mayor now able to cast the tie-breaking vote. The new city council quickly passed an ethics ordinance, a tenant's bill of rights, and other pro-consumer legislation.

Jane Byrne challenged Washington in the 1987 Democratic primary. In order not to split the white vote again, the other mayoral candidates--Vrdolyak and Thomas Hynes, Cook County assessor--filed to run as independents. Washington won the party's endorsement with 54 percent of the vote, including 99.6 percent of the black vote.

In the April general election, both Vrdolyak and Hynes called each other spoilers, each urging the other to drop out to prevent a Washington victory. Hynes did eventually withdraw 40 hours before the election, but Washington still won with his by-now usual 54 percent of the vote. In his victory speech, he boasted that he would be mayor for 20 years.

It was not to be. Just as he was beginning to govern with a friendly coalition in the city council, Washington died, collapsing at his desk from a massive heart attack the day before Thanksgiving, November 25, 1987. The county medical examiner reported that he was 285 pounds--100 pounds overweight, having gained 60 pounds while in office.

Up to 500,000 mourners passed by his casket at City Hall and thousands more lined the nine-mile route from the church to the cemetery where he was buried. In a public statement recounted by author Gary Rivlin, Vrdolyak, his former archenemy, said: "He was a political man. That was his life. He really didn't have a personal life, a family life. So all he had was politics."

Even before Washington was buried, the city's politicians were jockeying for his successor, who would be chosen by the city council. Unable to agree on a candidate, the ruling coalition collapsed. In its stead, white and black pro-machine aldermen uneasily joined together and settled on Eugene Sawyer, a former Washington ally, but one with a strong pro-organization background. Angry crowds surrounded City Hall, jamming the council chambers. Frightened, Sawyer wavered, but finally accepted the nomination as protesters chanted "Uncle Tom Sawyer" from the gallery. The Washington Era was over. With the end of that era came an end to the former mayor's efforts to establish a progressive political alliance in Chicago. And, on a larger scale, his vision of creating a national urban agenda--one that would help identify and remedy the problems facing large cities throughout the United States--was never realized.

Harold Lee Washington

51st Mayor of Chicago
In office April 29, 1983 – November 25, 1987
Preceded by	Jane Byrne
Succeeded by	David Orr
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois's 1st district
In office January 5, 1981 – April 30, 1983
Preceded by	Bennett M. Stewart
Succeeded by	Charles A. Hayes
Member of the Illinois Senate from the 26th district
In office 1977 – 1980
Member of the Illinois House of Representatives from the 26th district
In office January 6, 1965 – 1976

Born	April 15, 1922(1922-04-15) Chicago, Illinois, United States
Died	November 25, 1987 (aged 65) Chicago, Illinois, United States
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Nancy Dorothy Finch (July 22, 1942–February 25, 1950) Mary Ella Smith (engaged)
Residence	Chicago, Illinois
Religion	Methodist^[1]

Background and early career

Harold Washington was born on April 15, 1922, to Roy and Bertha Washington. His father had been one of the first precinct captains in the city, a lawyer and a Methodist minister. His mother, Bertha, left a small farm near Centralia, Illinois, to make a fortune in Chicago as a singer. She married Roy soon after arriving in Chicago and had four children with him.

Washington grew up in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago, at the time the epicenter of black culture in the city. He attended DuSable High School, then a new segregated high school, and was a member of the first graduating class. In a 1939 citywide track meet, Washington placed first in the 110 meter high hurdles event, and second in the 220 meter low hurdles event. Between his junior and senior year of high school, Washington dropped out, saying that he no longer felt challenged by the classwork. He worked at a meat packing plant for a time before his father helped him get a job at the U.S. Treasury. There he met Dorothy Finch, who he married soon after—Washington was 20, and Dorothy 17. Seven months later, the U.S. was drawn into World War II with the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

In 1942, Washington was drafted into the war and sent overseas as part of a segregated unit of the Air Force Engineers. In the Philippines, Washington was a part of a unit building runways. Although he preferred combat, at the time blacks were considered neither courageous nor smart enough for combat duty. Eventually, Washington rose to the rank of First Sergeant in the Air Force. In her biography of Harold Washington, Florence Hamlish Levinsohn surmises that the three years Washington spent in the South Pacific fighting for democracy while experiencing racial prejudice and discrimination helped shape Washington's views on racial justice in the mayoral run to come.

Roosevelt College

In the summer of 1946, Washington enrolled at Roosevelt College (now Roosevelt University). The college was founded in the waning years of World War II, after a revolt by professors of Central YMCA College (known as "The Y"). Edward J. Sparling, former president of the Y, resigned rather than turn over demographic data requested by trustees of the Y. He suspected the data would be used to set up a quota system, preventing returning veterans from enrolling at the Y. With 68 other faculty members, they and many students formed the first integrated private college in Chicago, and one of few in the nation.^[2]

Washington joined other groups of students not permitted to be enrolled in other local colleges. Local estimates place the population of the college, 3,948 people strong, at about 1/8 black, 1/2 Jewish, with other races making up the balance. A full 75% of the student had enrolled because of "nondiscriminatory progressive principles."^[2]

By December 1946, Washington had fully involved himself in activities at Roosevelt. He chaired a fund-raising drive by students, and then was named to a committee that supported citywide efforts to outlaw restrictive covenants, which were the legal means by which minorities were prohibited from leaving their ghettos.^[3]

In 1948, after the college had moved to the Auditorium Building, Washington was elected the third president of Roosevelt's student council. Under his leadership, the student council successfully petitioned the college to have representation on Roosevelt's faculty committees. At the first regional meeting of the newly founded National Student Association in the spring of 1948, Washington and nine other delegates proposed student representation on faculties, and a "Bill of Rights" for students; both measures were roundly defeated.^[4]

The next year, Washington went to Springfield to protest Illinois legislators' coming probe of "subversives". The probe would outlaw the Communist Party and require loyalty oaths for teachers. He led students' opposition to the bills, although they would pass later in 1949.^[4]

During his Roosevelt College years, Washington came to be known for his stability. His friends said that he had a "remarkable ability to keep cool", reason carefully and walk a middle line. Washington intentionally avoided extremist activities, including street actions and sit-ins against segregated restaurants and businesses. Overall, Washington and other radical activists ended up sharing a mutual respect for each other, acknowledging both Washington's pragmatism and the activists' idealism. With the opportunities found only at Roosevelt College in the late 1940s, Washington's time at Roosevelt proved to be a pivotal point in his life and the city's history.^[5]

Washington graduated in August 1949 with a B.A. degree. In addition to his activities at Roosevelt, he was a member of Phi Beta Sigma.^[6]^[7]

Northwestern University School of Law

Washington then studied at Northwestern University School of Law in Chicago. During this time, Washington divorced from Dorothy Finch. By some accounts, Harold and Dorothy had simply grown apart after Washington was sent to war during the first year of his marriage. Others saw both as young and headstrong, the relationship doomed from the beginning. Another friend of Washington's deemed Harold "not the marrying kind." He would not marry again, but continued to have relationships with other women; those who knew his longtime secretary would later report her commenting "If every woman Harold slept with stood at one end of City Hall, the building would sink five inches into LaSalle Street".^[8]

At Northwestern, Washington was the only black in his class. (He joined six women in the class, one of them being Dawn Clark Netsch). As at Roosevelt, he entered school politics. In 1951, his last year, he was elected treasurer of the Junior Bar Association (JBA). The election was largely symbolic, however, and Washington's attempts to give the JBA more authority at Northwestern were largely unsuccessful.^[9]

On campus, Washington joined the Nu Beta Epsilon fraternity, largely because he and the other minorities which constituted the fraternity were blatantly excluded from the other fraternities on campus. Overall, Washington stayed away from the activism that defined his years at Roosevelt. During the evenings and weekends, he worked to supplement his GI Bill income. He graduated in 1952.^[10]

Legislative political career

Working for Metcalfe

From 1951 until he was first slated for election in 1965, Washington worked in the offices of the 3rd Ward for the ward boss, former Olympic athlete Ralph Metcalfe. Metcalfe had been selected by Richard J. Daley, who had been elected party chairman in 1952. Daley's first moves were to strip power from William Dawson, who he feared would not vote with Daley's ideas. He replaced C.C. Wimbush, an ally of Dawson, on the party committee with Metcalfe, largely because of his intelligence, loyalty to Daley and Catholicism. Having replaced all of the members in the party citywide who would not bend to his will, Daley set to the creation of one of the last political machines in the country. Under Metcalfe's leadership and loyalty, the 3rd Ward ranked first in the city in the size of its Democratic plurality by 1961, a critical factor in Daley's mayoral election.^[11]

While working under Metcalfe, Washington began to organize the 3rd Ward's Young Democrats (YD) organization. One of the primary purposes in doing so was to establish a key political base separate from the Democratic Machine, yet integral to the Machine's success in the predominately black wards. At YD conventions, the 3rd Ward would push for numerous black resolutions. Eventually, other black YD organizations would come to the 3rd Ward headquarters for advice on how to run their own organizations. Like he had at Roosevelt College, Washington avoided radicalism and preferred to work through the party to invoke change.^[12]

While working with the Young Democrats, Washington met Mary Ella Smith. They dated for the next 20 years, and in 1983 Washington proposed to Smith in an attempt to silence questions about Washington's sexual orientation. In an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times, Smith said that she never pressed Washington for marriage because she knew Washington's first love was politics, saying, "He was a political animal. He thrived on it, and I knew any thoughts of marriage would have to wait. I wasn't concerned about that. I just knew the day would come."^[13]

In 1960, with Lemuel Bentley, Bennett Johnson, Luster Jackson and others, Washington founded the Chicago League of Negro Voters. The organization was one of the first to challenge the Machine; in its first election, Bentley drew 60,000 votes for city clerk. After dropping out of view after the elections, it resurfaced as the group Protest at the Polls in 1963. Again, Washington participated in the background planning process, not risking losing support from the Machine, but still trying to further the progressive goals of 3rd Ward YDs. By 1967, the independent candidates had gained traction within the black community, winning several aldermanic seats; by 1983, the League of Negro Voters would be instrumental in Washington's run for Mayor. By then, the YDs had begun to lose influence in the party, as more black voters separated from the Machine and supported independents.^[14]

Illinois House (1965–1976)

After Democratic party leaders failed to reapportion districts as required by the census every ten years, an at-large election was held in January 1965 to fill 177 seats in the Illinois House of Representatives. With the Republicans and Democrats combining to slate only 118 candidates, independent voting groups seized the opportunity to put up their own slates of candidates, separate from the Machine. The League of Negro Voters put together a "Third Slate" of 59 candidates, announcing the slate on June 27, 1964. Shortly afterwards, Daley put together a slate of his own, including Adlai Stevenson III and Washington. The Third Slate was then thrown out by the Illinois Election Board because of "insufficient signatures" on the nominating petitions. In response, the League issued an "orange ballot", urging voters to vote for three Republicans and fifteen Democrats. In the election, Washington received the second-largest amount of ballots in the election, behind Stevenson.^[15]

Washington's years in the House were marked by constant tension with Daley and the rest of the Machine leadership. In 1967, he was ranked by the Independent Voters of Illinois (IVI) as the fourth-most independent legislator in the house and named Best Legislator of the Year. His defiance of the "idiot card", a sheet of paper that directed legislators' votes on every issue, attracted the attention of party leaders, who moved to remove Washington from his legislative position.^[16] Daley often told Metcalfe to dump Washington as a candidate, but Metcalfe did not want to risk losing the 3rd Ward's Young Democrats, who were more aligned to Washington than to the Machine.^[17]

In one particular spat, Washington backed Renault Robinson, a black police officer and one of the founders of the Afro-American Patrolmen's League (AAPL). The aim of the APPL was to fight racism directed against minority officers by the rest of the predominately-white department. Soon after the creation of the group, Robinson was written up for minor infractions, suspended, reinstated, and then placed on the graveyard shift to a single block behind central police headquarters. Robinson approached Washington to fashion a bill creating a civilian review board, consisting of both patrolmen and officers, to monitor police brutality. Both black independent and white liberal legislators refused to back the bill, fearing to challenge Daley's stronghold on the police force.^[17]

After Washington announced he would support the AAPL, Metcalfe refused to protect him from Daley. Washington believed he had the support of John Touhy, Speaker of the House and a former party chair. Instead, Touhy criticized Washington and then allayed Daley's anger. In exchange for the party's backing, Washington would serve on the Chicago Crime Commission, the group Daley formed to investigate the AAPL's charges. The commission promptly found the AAPL's charges "unwarranted". An angry and humiliated Washington admitted that on the commission, he felt like Daley's "showcase nigger".^[17]

In 1969, Daley removed his name from the slate; only by the intervention of Cecil Partee, a party loyalist, was Washington's name placed back on the slate. That year, the Machine quietly supported Jim Taylor, a former professional boxer, Streets and Sanitation worker, and barely literate Daley figurehead, over Washington. With Partee and his own ward's support, Washington defeated Taylor.^[16]

His years in the House were focused on becoming an advocate for black rights. He continued work on the Fair Housing Act, and worked to strengthen the state's Fair Employment Practices Commission (FEPC). In addition, he worked on a state Civil Rights Act, which would strengthen employment and housing provisions in the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964. In his first session, all of his bills were sent to committee or tabled. Like his time in Roosevelt College, Washington relied on parliamentary tactics (e.g., writing amendments guaranteed to fail in a vote) to enable him to bargain for more concessions.^[18]

Washington also passed bills honoring civil rights figures. He passed a resolution honoring Metcalfe, his mentor. He also passed a resolution honoring James J. Reeb, a Unitarian minister who was beaten to death in Selma, Alabama by a segregationist mob. After the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., he introduced a bill aimed at making King's birthday a state holiday; it was tabled and later vetoed. It was not until 1973 that Washington was able, with Partee's help in the Senate, to have the bill enacted and signed by the governor.^[19]

As the years passed, Washington voted more in line with the Machine, partially for fear of losing its support and patronage army. By 1975, the IVI ranked Washington 42nd in the House. On the most controversial votes (e.g. a 1967 bill that would ban picketing on public streets, aimed at anti-Daley protests by members of the civil rights movement), Washington had taken to not voting as a means of voicing his protest, without casting a vote against the Machine.^[20]

In 1975, Washington was named chairman of the Judiciary Committee with the election of William A. Redmond as Speaker of the House. The same year, Partee, now President of the Senate and eligible for his pension, decided to retire from the Senate. Although Daley and Taylor declined at first, at Partee's insistence, Washington was slated for the seat and received the party's support. In 1976, Washington was elected to the Illinois Senate.^[21]

Legal issues

In addition to Daley's strongarmed tactics, Washington's time in the Illinois House was also marred by problems with tax returns and allegations of not performing services owed to his clients. In her biography, Levinsohn questions whether the timing of Washington's legal troubles was politically motivated. In November 1966, Washington was re-elected to the house over Daley's strong objections; by January 1967, the second complaint in a string of six complaints against Washington had been filed. (The first had been filed earlier, in 1964.)^[22]

A letter asking Washington to explain the matter was sent on January 5, 1967. After failing to respond to numerous summons and subpoenas, the commission recommend a five-year suspension on March 18, 1968. A formal response to the charges did not occur until July 10, 1969. In his reply, Washington said that "sometimes personal problems are enlarged out of proportion to the entire life picture at the time and the more important things are abandoned." In 1970, the Board of Managers of the Chicago Bar Association ruled that Washington's license be suspended for only one year, not the five recommended; the total amount in question between all six clients was $205.^[23]

In 1971, Washington was charged with failure to file tax returns for four years, although the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) claimed to have evidence for nineteen years. (Top campaign aides would later say that nineteen was closer to the truth). Judge Sam Perry noted that he was "disturbed that this case ever made it to my courtroom"—while Washington had paid his taxes, he ended up owing the government a total of $508 as a result of not filing his taxes. Typically, the IRS handled such cases in civil court, or within its bureaucracy. Washington pleaded "no contest" and was sentenced to forty days in Cook County Jail, a $1,000 fine, and three years probation. (By comparison, a prominent, well-connected Chicago attorney was charged with not filing from 1973–1975; he was neither prosecuted, nor charged a penalty.)^[24]^[25]

Illinois Senate (1976–1980)

Human Rights Act of 1970

In the Illinois Senate, Washington's main focus worked to pass the Human Rights Act of 1970. Legislators rewrote all of the human rights laws in the state, restricting discrimination based on "race, color, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, physical or mental disability, military status, sexual orientation, or unfavorable discharge from military service in connection with employment, real estate transactions, access to financial credit, and the availability of public accommodations."^[26]

The bill's origins began in 1970 with the rewriting of the Illinois Constitution. The new constitution required all governmental agencies and departments to be reorganized for efficiency. Republican governor James R. Thompson reorganized low-profile departments before his re-election in 1978. In early 1979, during the early portions of Thompson's term and immediately in the aftermath of the largest vote for a gubernatorial candidate in the state's history, he called for the human rights reorganization.^[27]

The Machine recognized a bill to enforce nondiscrimination as a threat to its existence. In addition, the bill would consolidate and remove some agencies completely, eliminating a number of political jobs the Machine could offer to its loyalists. In addition, many Democratic legislators would vote down a human rights measure backed by Thompson and other Republican legislators. For many years, human rights had been a campaign issue brought up and backed by Democrats.^[27] The Machine also had no interest in helping to further shine Washington's record.^[28]

Thompson's staffers brought the bill to Washington and other black legislators before it would be presented to the floor. He made adjustments in anticipation of some legislators' concerns regarding the bill, before speaking for it in April 1979. After the Machine spoke out against the bill, Washington brought in both black and white liberal opinion makers to explain how they felt about the bill. On May 24, 1979, the bill passed the Senate by a vote of 59 to one, with two voting present and six absent. The victory in the highly conservative Senate was attributed by a Thompson staffer to Washington's "calm noncombative presentation".^[28]

However, the bill stalled in the house. State Rep. Susan Catania insisted on attaching an amendment to allow women guarantees in the use of credit cards; her effort was assisted by Machine operatives Jim Taylor and Larry Bullock. In the meantime, Taylor and Bullock introduced over one hundred amendments, including the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, to try and stall the bill; this effort was assisted by Carol Moseley Braun, a civil rights advocate and liberal from Hyde Park. With Catania's amendment, the bill passed the House, but the Senate refused to accept the amendment. On June 30, 1979, the legislature adjourned.^[28]

Washington continued to work through the summer and fall supporting the bill. A governor's staffer recognized that it was crucial to have "a strong, articulate, respected black person to say that this was a good bill." In addition, Washington recognized the bill as the culmination of years of work in the legislature.

U.S. House (1980–1983)

In 1980, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for Illinois' 1st congressional district.^[6]^[29]

Mayor of Chicago (1983–1987)

This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2008)

Harold Washington speaking at the commissioning of USS Chicago (SSN-721) in 1986.

In the February 22, 1983, Democratic mayoral primary, community organizers registered more than 100,000 new African American voters, while the white vote was split between the incumbent mayor Jane Byrne and the other challenger, Richard M. Daley, son of the late Mayor Richard J. Daley. Washington won with 37% of the vote, versus 33% for Byrne and 30% for Daley.

During his tenure as mayor, Washington lived at the Hampton House apartments in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago. Among the changes he made to the city's government was creating its first environmental-affairs department under the management of longtime Great Lakes environmentalist Lee Botts.

Although winning the Democratic primary is normally tantamount to election in heavily Democratic Chicago, after his primary victory Washington found that his Republican opponent, former state legislator Bernard Epton (earlier considered a nominal stand-in), was supported by many white Democrats and ward organizations, including the chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party, Alderman Edward "Fast Eddie" Vrdolyak.^[30] Epton's campaign referred to, among other things, Washington's conviction for failure to file income tax returns. (He had paid the taxes, but had not filed a return.) However, Washington appealed to his constituency in his mayoral political campaign, and stressed such things as reforming the Chicago patronage system and the need for a jobs program in a tight economy. In the April 22, 1983, mayoral general election, Washington defeated Epton by 3.7%, 51.7% to 48.0%, to become mayor of Chicago. Washington was sworn in as mayor on April 29, 1983, and resigned his Congressional seat the following day.

Washington's first term in office was characterized by ugly, racially polarized battles dubbed "Council Wars", referring to the then-recent Star Wars films. A 29–21 City Council majority refused to enact Washington's reform legislation and prevented him from appointing reform nominees to boards and commissions. Other first-term items include overall city population loss, increased crime, and a massive decrease in ridership on the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA). This helped earn the city the nickname "Beirut on the Lake", and many people wondered if Chicago would ever recover or face the more permanent declines of other cities in the U.S. Midwest.

The twenty-nine, also known as the Vrdolyak Twenty-nine, was led by "the Eddies": Alderman Ed Vrdolyak, Finance Chair Edward Burke and Parks Commissioner Edmund Kelly. The Eddies were supported by State's Attorney Richard M. Daley, U.S. Congressmen Dan Rostenkowski and William Lipinski, and other powerful white Democrats.

During one of the first Council meetings, Harold Washington was unable to get his appointments approved. Harold Washington and the twenty-one ward representatives that supported him, walked out of the meeting after a quorum had been established. Vrdolyak and the other twenty-eight were able to appoint all of the boards and chairs. Later lawsuits submitted by Harold Washington and others were dismissed because it was determined that the appointments were legally made.

Washington ruled by veto. The twenty-nine could not get the thirtieth vote they needed to override Washington's veto; African American, Latino and white liberal aldermen supported Washington despite pressure from the Eddies. Meanwhile, in the courts, Washington kept the pressure on to reverse the redistricting of City Council wards that white Democrats had pushed through during the Byrne years. Finally, when special elections were ordered in 1986, victorious Washington-backed candidates gave him the 25–25 split he needed. His vote as chairman of the City Council enabled him to break the deadlock and enact his programs.

Washington defeated former mayor Jane Byrne in the February 24, 1987, Democratic mayoral primary by 7.2%, 53.5% to 46.3%, and in the April 7, 1987, mayoral general election defeated Vrdolyak (Illinois Solidarity Party) by 11.8%, 53.8% to 42.8%, with Northwestern University business professor Donald Haider (Republican) getting 4.3%, to win reelection to a second term as mayor. Cook County Assessor Thomas Hynes (Chicago First Party), a Daley ally, dropped out of the race 36 hours before the mayoral general election. During Washington's short second term, the Eddies fell from power: Vrdolyak became a Republican, Kelly was removed from his powerful parks post, and Burke lost his power as finance chair.

Death

On November 25, 1987, at 11:00 am, Chicago Fire Department paramedics were called to City Hall. Alton Miller, Washington's press secretary, had been discussing school board issues when Washington suddenly slumped over on his desk, falling unconscious. After failing to revive Washington in his office, paramedics rushed him to Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Further resuscitation attempts failed, and Washington was pronounced dead at 1:36 pm.^[31] At Daley Plaza, Richard Keen, project director for the Westside Habitat for Humanity, announced Washington's official time of death to a separate gathering of Chicagoans. Initial reactions to the pronouncement of his death were of shock and sadness, as many African-Americans believed that Washington was the only top Chicago official who would address their concerns.^[32]

Thousands of Chicagoans attended his wake in the lobby of City Hall between November 27 and November 29, 1987.^[33] On November 30, Rev. B. Herbert Martin officiated Washington's "upbeat, hard-clapping funeral service" in Christ Universal Temple at 119th Street and Ashland Avenue in Chicago. After the service, Washington was buried in Oak Woods Cemetery on the South Side of Chicago.^[34]

Immediately after Washington's death, rumors about how Washington died began to surface. On January 6, 1988, Dr. Antonio Senat, Washington's personal physician, denied "unfounded speculations" that Washington had cocaine in his system at the time of his death, or that foul play was involved. Cook County Medical Examiner Robert J. Stein performed an autopsy on Washington and concluded that Washington had died of a heart attack. Washington had weighed 284 pounds (129 kg), and suffered from hypertension, high cholesterol levels, and an enlarged heart.^[35] On June 20, 1988, Alton Miller again indicated that drug reports on Washington had come back negative, and that Washington had not been poisoned prior to his death. Dr. Stein stated that the only drug in Washington's system had been lidocaine, which is used to stabilize the heart after a heart attack takes place. The drug was given to Washington either by paramedics, or by doctors at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.^[36]

In protest of Washington's perceived "deification" by the city and citizens of Chicago, Art Institute of Chicago student David Nelson painted Mirth & Girth, a caricature that depicted Washington wearing women's lingerie and holding a pencil.^[37] The painting kicked off a First Amendment and civil rights controversy between Art Institute students and African-American aldermen. Nelson and the ACLU eventually split a US$95,000 (1994, US$138,000 in 2008) settlement from the city.^[38]

Coincidentally, Bernie Epton, Washington's opponent in the racially charged 1983 general election, would follow him in death 18 days later, on December 13, 1987.

Legacy

Harold Washington Cultural Center, Harold Washington Library and Harold Washington Park

Despite the bickering in City Council, Washington seemed to relish his role as Chicago's ambassador to the world. At a party held shortly after his re-election on April 7, 1987, he said to a group of supporters, "In the old days, when you told people in other countries that you were from Chicago, they would say, 'Boom-boom! Rat-a-tat-tat!' Nowadays, they say [crowd joins with him], 'How's Harold?'!"^[39]

In later years, various city facilities and institutions would be named or renamed after the late mayor to commemorate his legacy. The new building housing the main branch of the Chicago Public Library, located at 400 South State Street, was named the Harold Washington Library Center. The former Loop College in downtown Chicago was renamed Harold Washington College. In addition to the downtown facilities, the 40,000 square-foot Harold Washington Cultural Center was opened to the public in August 2004, in the historic South Side neighborhood of Bronzeville, at 4701 S. King Drive. Across from the Hampton House apartments where Washington lived, a city park was renamed Harold Washington Park, which was known for "Harold's Parakeets", a colony of wild parakeets that inhabited an ash tree in the park.

References

Notes

^ Hamlish Levinsohn, p. 246, relates that Washington identified himself with his grandfather and father Roy's Methodist background. Rivlin, p. 42, notes that at age 4, Harold and his brother, 6, were sent to a private Benedictine school in Wisconsin. The arrangement lasted one week before they ran away from the school and hitchhiked home. After three more years and thirteen escapes, Roy placed Harold in Chicago public schools.
^ ^a ^b Hamlish Levinsohn (1983), pp. 42-43.
^ Hamlish Levinsohn (1983), p. 44.
^ ^a ^b Hamlish Levinsohn (1983), pp. 51-53.
^ Hamlish Levinsohn (1983), pp. 54-55, 59, 62.
^ ^a ^b United States Congress (Date unknown). "Harold Washington". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=W000180. Retrieved on January 26, 2008.
^ Hamlish Levinsohn (1983), p. 63.
^ Rivlin (1992), p. 53.
^ Hamlish Levinsohn (1983), p. 66.
^ Hamlish Levinsohn (1983), pp. 68-70.
^ Hamlish Levinsohn (1983), pp. 74-75.
^ Hamlish Levinsohn (1983), pp. 86-90.
^ Kup (December 27, 1987). "Kup on Sunday". Chicago Sun-Times. http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:NewsBank:CSTB&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=0EB36DA09871C50C&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated5&req_dat=AA98CDC331574F0ABEAFF732B33DC0B2. Retrieved on February 15, 2008.
^ Hamlish Levinsohn (1983), pp. 91-92, 97.
^ Hamlish Levinsohn (1983), pp. 98-99.
^ ^a ^b Hamlish Levinsohn (1983), pp. 100-106.
^ ^a ^b ^c Rivlin (1992), pp. 50-52.
^ Hamlish Levinsohn (1983), pp. 107-108.
^ Hamlish Levinsohn (1983), pp. 109-110.
^ Hamlish Levinsohn (1983), pp. 114-116.
^ Hamlish Levinsohn (1983), pp. 121-122.
^ Hamlish Levinsohn (1983), pp. 143-144.
^ Hamlish Levinsohn (1983), pp. 146-152.
^ Hamlish Levinsohn (1983), pp. 154-156.
^ Rivlin (1992), pp. 178-180.
^ Illinois General Assembly (1970). "(775 ILCS 5/) Illinois Human Rights Act.". http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs5.asp?ActID=2266&ChapAct=775%26nbsp%3BILCS%26nbsp%3B5%2F&ChapterID=64&ChapterName=HUMAN+RIGHTS&ActName=Illinois+Human+Rights+Act.. Retrieved on April 21, 2008.
^ ^a ^b Hamlish Levinsohn (1983), pp. 130-131.
^ ^a ^b ^c Hamlish Levinsohn (1983), pp. 132-134.
^ Cook County Board of Commissioners (December 4, 2007). "Resolution 08-R-09 (Honoring the life of Harold Washington)". http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=2&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cookctyclerk.com%2Fupload%2Fsyno_pdf_745.PDF&ei=LWubR77pKo-siAHA57mRBw&usg=AFQjCNFtpK8F94DDcDj-OfFtFfzVf3nssA&sig2=0wiHuk--rgX8NeJ1XY_f0Q. Retrieved on January 26, 2006.
^ Davis, Robert (April 12, 1983). "The election of Harold Washington the first black mayor of Chicago". Chicago Tribune. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-chicagodays-haroldwashington-story,0,1660876.story. Retrieved on February 16, 2008.
^ Davis, Robert (November 26, 1987). "Mayor's death stuns city - black leader, 65, on verge of a dream". http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:NewsBank:CTRB&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=0FF68F31FB93F51A&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated5&req_dat=AA98CDC331574F0ABEAFF732B33DC0B2. Retrieved on January 26, 2008.
^ Brotman, Barbara (November 26, 1987). "Chicagoans mourn the loss of their leader". Chicago Tribune. http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:NewsBank:CTRB&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=0FF68F2E803A817B&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated5&req_dat=AA98CDC331574F0ABEAFF732B33DC0B2. Retrieved on January 26, 2008.
^ Strong, James; Baumann, Edward (November 28, 1987). "Mayor to lie in state over weekend". Chicago Tribune. http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:NewsBank:CTRB&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=0FF68F48B531BD14&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated5&req_dat=AA98CDC331574F0ABEAFF732B33DC0B2. Retrieved on February 1, 2008.
^ Braden, William (December 1, 1987). "Fond farewell - Song and laughter temper the tears". Chicago Sun-Times. http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:NewsBank:CSTB&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=0EB36D9A5A48DBCC&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated5&req_dat=AA98CDC331574F0ABEAFF732B33DC0B2. Retrieved on February 1, 2008.
^ Williams, Lillian (January 7, 1988). "Washington's doctor debunks foul play talk". Chicago Sun-Times. http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:NewsBank:CSTB&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=0EB36DABC60075D3&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated5&req_dat=AA98CDC331574F0ABEAFF732B33DC0B2. Retrieved on January 29, 2008.
^ Unknown (June 21, 1988). "No drug link to ex-mayor's death". Chicago Tribune. http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:NewsBank:CTRB&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=0FF7DFEFB29D7E80&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated5&req_dat=AA98CDC331574F0ABEAFF732B33DC0B2. Retrieved on January 29, 2008.
^ Hanania, Ray; Cronin, Barry (May 13, 1988). "Art Institute surrenders - Will bar controversial painting of Washington". Chicago Sun Times. http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:NewsBank:CSTB&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=0EB36DD3D90C4278&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated5&req_dat=AA98CDC331574F0ABEAFF732B33DC0B2. Retrieved on January 27, 2008.
^ Lehmann, Daniel J.; Golab, Art (September 21, 1994). "City settles suit over Washington painting". Chicago Sun-Times. http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:NewsBank:CSTB&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=0EB421DDDCC02773&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated5&req_dat=AA98CDC331574F0ABEAFF732B33DC0B2. Retrieved on February 10, 2008.
^ Terry, Don; Pitt, Leon (April 8, 1987). "Mayor proves results worth singing about". Chicago Sun-Times. http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:NewsBank:CSTB&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=0EB36D5FC7C67DF0&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated5&req_dat=AA98CDC331574F0ABEAFF732B33DC0B2. Retrieved on January 27, 2007.

Bibliography

Hamlish Levinsohn, Florence (1983). Harold Washington: A Political Biography. Chicago: Chicago Review Press. ISBN 091491409.
Rivlin, Gary (1992). Fire on the Prairie: Chicago's Harold Washington and the Politics of Race. New York: Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 0805014683.

External links

"Harold"—This American Life radio story. A political history of Washington's mayoralty.
The Harold Washington Commemorative Year
"The Legacy of Chicago's Harold Washington", Cheryl Corley, All Things Considered, November 23, 2007. Accessed November 23, 2007.

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Bennett M. Stewart	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois's 1st congressional district 1981–1983	Succeeded by Charles A. Hayes
Political offices
Preceded by Jane Byrne	Mayor of Chicago 1983-1987	Succeeded by David Orr

v • d • e Mayors of Chicago

Ogden · Morris · Raymond · Lloyd · F. C. Sherman · Raymond · Garrett · A. Sherman · Garrett · Chapin · Curtiss · Woodworth · Curtiss · Gurnee · Gray · Milliken · Boone · Dyer · Wentworth · Haines · Wentworth · Rumsey · F. C. Sherman · Rice · Mason · Medill · Bond ¹ · Colvin · Hoyne ² · Heath · Harrison, Sr. · Roche · Cregier · Washburne · Harrison, Sr. · Swift · Hopkins · Swift · Harrison, Jr. · Dunne · Busse · Harrison, Jr. · Thompson · Dever · Thompson · Cermak · Corr · Kelly · Kennelly · R. J. Daley · Bilandic · Byrne · Washington · Orr · Sawyer · R. M. Daley

¹ Acting officeholder. ² Election declared null and void.

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