Washington, Harold

April 15, 1922
November 25, 1987

The politician Harold Washington was born on the South Side of Chicago to Bertha and Roy Lee Washington Sr. His parents separated, and Washington's father, a stockyard worker, raised the children; he also earned a law degree at night and became a Democratic party precinct captain in the Third Ward.

Harold Washington attended DuSable High School but dropped out after his junior year. He was drafted during World War II and while in the army earned a high school equivalency diploma. In 1941 he married Dorothy Finch; they divorced in 1950.

After the war, Washington entered Roosevelt University in Chicago, where he was the first black student to be elected senior class president. He graduated in 1949 with a degree in political science. He completed law school at Northwestern University in 1952—by "quota" the only black student in his class.

When Roy Washington died in 1953, Ralph Metcalfe, an alderman and Democratic party committeeman, invited Harold Washington to take over his father's precinct. Washington proved to be a talented organizer, successfully mobilizing votes for Metcalfe and training new Democratic party leadership. He was also involved in independent black political organizations.

Washington served in the Illinois House of Representatives from 1965 to 1976, and in the state senate from 1976 to 1980. In office, he selectively dissented from "machine" policies, incurring special wrath in the late 1960s by calling for a police review board with civilian participation. In 1969, he helped organize the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus. He fought for consumer protection for the poor and elderly, supported the Equal Rights Amendment, and strengthened the Fair Employment Practices Act.

In 1977, Washington openly broke with the machine, running for mayor of Chicago in the special election that followed Richard J. Daley's death. He lost the Democratic primary but won 10.7 percent of the vote. A year later, Washington returned to the state senate despite a machine-orchestrated challenge. In 1980 he was elected to the U.S. Congress, where he demonstrated leadership on issues important to blacks and Latinos. Washington played a key role in the 1982 fight to extend the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and he was secretary of the Congressional Black Caucus. He also supported a nuclear freeze and a 20 percent cut in defense spending.

Shortly after Washington's election, he was approached by independent political and community groups hoping to draft a black candidate for mayor of Chicago. After a massive campaign that registered at least 20,000 new voters by October 1982, Washington agreed to run. The media slighted his candidacy, casting the Democratic primary as a contest between incumbent mayor Jane Byrne and State's Attorney Richard M. Daley, son of the former mayor. But Washington's overwhelming support in the black community, his debate performance, and a high level of grassroots mobilization tipped the balance in his favor. He won with a plurality of 38 percent.

In the 1983 general election, many white Democrats, including some key party leaders, backed Republican Bernard Epton. The campaign was volatile and racially charged, as whites jeered Washington and hurled accusations of personal impropriety. Still, he prevailed with 51.5 percent of the vote due to record-breaking turnouts and support in the black community, and to strong support from Latino and liberal white neighborhoods.

Washington's first term was marred by opposition on the city council, led by Democratic Party–machine stalwarts Edward Vrydolyak and Ed Burke. Washington lacked majority support on the council, and his initiatives often were defeated. The "Council Wars" raged from 1983 through 1986, when a federal court ruled the ward map was racially biased. When Washington sought re-election in 1987, he was challenged by former mayor Jane Byrne in the primary and by Vrydolyak, running as an independent, in the general election. He outpolled his rivals, garnering 99.6 percent of the black vote and significant backing among gays, Latinos, and Asian Americans.

Despite resistance, Washington's structural and programmatic reforms were substantial. He signed the Shakman Decree, which outlawed patronage hiring and firing, and he imposed a $1,500 cap on campaign contributions from companies doing business with the city. He increased racial and ethnic diversity in the city administration, and he aided women and minorities in competing with white male contractors. He appointed Chicago's first black police chief and sought to provide city services more equitably in the black community.

On November 25, 1987, Washington suffered a heart attack at his desk in city hall. He died later that day, mourned by many who believed his career had both reflected and helped to create new avenues for political participation among African Americans.

See also Congressional Black Caucus; Metcalfe, Ralph; Politics in the United States; Voting Rights Act of 1965

Bibliography

Carl, Jim. "Harold Washington and Chicago's Schools Between Civil Rights and the Decline of the New Deal." History of Education Quarterly, 41, no. 3 (2001), pp 311–343.

Clavel, Pierre and Wim Wiewel, eds. Harold Washington and the Neighborhoods: Progressive City Government in Chicago, 1983–1987. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1991.

Gove, Samuel K., and Louis A. Masotti, eds. After Daley: Chicago Politics in Transition. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1982.

Kleppner, Paul. Chicago Divided: The Making of a Black Mayor. DeKalb, Ill.: Northern Illinois University Press, 1985.

Miller, Alton. Harold Washington: The Mayor, The Man. New York: Random House Value, 1995.

Rivlin, Gary. Fire on the Prairie: Chicago's Harold Washington and the Politics of Race. New York: Henry Holt, 1993.

Travis, Dempsey J. An Autobiography of Black Politics. Chicago, Ill.: Urban Research Institute, 1987.

dianne m. pinderhughes (1996)
Updated bibliography