Remembering Mayor Harold Washington

Remembering Mayor Harold Washington

compiled by Suzanne Hanney

Tumia Romero

Tumia Romero is a PhD candidate and chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Danny K. Davis (D-Chicago)

If it wasn't for Mayor Harold Washington, I don't know where I would be today. Yes, he gave me a job as a teenage mom, but he also gave credibility to my hopes and dreams. Through his vision of how Chicago is the city of big shoulders for all people and not just some, people like me have been able to soar. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and Happy Birthday.

Aaron Freeman

Freeman laughs with Washington

(Photo provided by Aaron Freeman

Aaron Freeman created the satirical sketch comedy “Council Wars” in the early 1980s. F r e e m a n’s stage show compared the Chicago City Council in Mayor Harold Washington’s first term to the movie “Star Wars” (1977). In the film, Lord Darth Vader led an evil Galactic Empire against the Rebel Alliance and a young Luke Skywalker. The principal characters in “Council Wars” were Lord Darth Vrdolyak, (modeled after Ald. Ed Vrdolyak and his 29 aldermen on the 50-member City Council), and Harold Skytalker.

Freeman has been a member of the Second City troupe, host of a talk show on WPWR, a writer for National Public Radio and Eight-Forty-Eight on Chicago Public Radio, and an adjunct professor of telecommunications at Columbia College.

I loved his vocabulary. That’s why the Council Wars character was called Harold SkyTALKER. Campaigning for him on the North Side allowed me to meet and connect with a lot of new people.

His greatest achievement was that of any pol – he won. I think he made me and all his supporters feel like winners.

My fondest memory is the event where this picture was taken. He said, ‘Harold Skytalker shall return.’ Also, Harold’s election was a measure of the possible. If Chicago could have a Black mayor, future wonders seemed inevitable.

Regarding his legacy, however, my kids feel no connection.

Loisteen Woods Walker

Loisteen Woods Walker was director of human resources for the Chicago Department of Revenue in Mayor Harold Washington’s second term and spent the next 30 years as head of HR in three other city departments: 911, Human Services, Family and Support Services. She is event coordinator for the invitation-only birthday centennial April 12 at the Harold Washington Library.

My concern is to preserve his legacy: that he fought for the people. He wanted to be fair and equitable to everyone, but, at the same time, he wanted the things that happened in the past not to happen again.

Had he lived through his second term, he would have been able to accomplish all of the things he was trying to set in place, to right the things that had been wrong for so long, because, in his first administration, he had so successfully changed people’s minds – whether white, Black or Hispanic – about his being mayor. Even if he had lived another year, he would have made such a difference in the city of Chicago with the different initiatives he had started.

He created the Ethics Commission. Before that, everything was up for grabs. African Americans were underserved; it was difficult to get a job and if you did, you had to jump through so many hoops. Everything was substandard, nothing in Chicago was geared to the betterment of the downtrodden. And Harold was geared to the downtrodden.

We finally got the power, and we weren’t prepared enough to make it work after his death. We were so emotionally caught up in what happened so quickly, that we lost – or didn’t get the opportunity – to define what he had started and how to move on. Once the power grab was over, and the powersthat-be got in place, [the old conditions] started back, but not as bad.

Mayor Harold Washington at a rally at the Robert Taylor Homes in 1983.

(Marc PoKempner photo)

We have never been able to move forward to rectify things for the betterment of the people. What has happened for these 39 years since [he died] is that everyone has gotten on the bandwagon and ridden on his coattails in state and federal government, but the whole country is still waiting.

Even though Barack Obama rode his coattails, we still didn’t get everything, because he was stopped by the Republicans, just like Harold was with the [Vrdolyak] 29.

Our intent is to preserve his legacy and I am adamant the only way is through youth. We hope to raise $100,000 for a secured endowment in perpetuity, for scholarships at Roosevelt University, his alma mater. We want young people to know what he did and if they go to Roosevelt, they will have a mentor helping them.

It’s a joy and pleasure to do something 39 years later, because I was in the trenches when he ran, and it should enlighten someone as to what he was about.

StreetWise Vendor A. Allen

Harold Washington was not only the first Black mayor of Chicago, he was a change in the power structure of the city, coming in after the Richard J. Daley regime and the Democratic Machine operation.

This Black man was not only educated, he was experienced in working with people and for people. I think people opposed to him were not ready for him as a candidate, even though Chicago was founded by a Black man, Jean Baptiste Point du Sable. But, because he was such a nice and intelligent guy, he managed to win the hearts of most Chicagoans. That’s how he, as an underdog, managed to become mayor of Chicago in April 1983.

Among the qualities he had were charisma and knowledge of Chicago. I met him at Apostolic Church of Morgan Park during his second campaign for mayor. I am proud to be a Mason and I asked him about the Masonic ring he was wearing. He immediately quoted Proverbs 4:7 KJV: “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.” The conversation was very enlightening and informative. I’ll never forget how he took time away from the crowd to talk to me personally. It made me feel special. I’ll never forget how he made everyone feel special. Harold Washington was a great mayor. A great politician. A great man. Period.

Josie Childs

Josie Childs was an events coordinator for the City of Chicago in the 1950s, and program coordinator in the Mayor’s Office of Special Events from Washington’s administration until 1990. She furthered African American involvement in the city through events planning for the Chicago Urban League, NAACP, the South Chicago Commission and more. She was also an Illinois organizer in four presidential campaigns. She started the Harold Washington Tribute Committee in 2013 to ensure the legacy of Chicago’s first African American mayor.

We met in 1954, shortly after his father died. He was still emotional about his father’s death. He would talk to me and we became the best of friends. Even after he became mayor, he would call me some evenings, after he had a rough day or just wanted to talk. I’m glad I had an under- standing husband.

Before he announced he was running, he said, ‘I don’t want to do this. I like what I am doing.’ He had gotten an unprecedented assignment for a freshman congressman [from the 1st district on the South Side]. The Voting Rights Act was up for renewal. Tip O’Neill, who was then Speaker of the House, was aware of his ability to work across the aisle; that’s why he got the assignment of traveling across the country buttonholing other congressmen to vote for the extension. I have a picture of him and President Reagan when they signed it.

He put a challenge to the community to register 50,000 people to vote before he would agree. They fooled him and registered 100,000. Lu Palmer said, ‘We Shall See in ’83,’ which means they were going to elect a Black mayor. He deserves the credit for convincing Harold, and also Vernon Jarrett and Pervis Spann, who just died.

Harold did not want to run for mayor because he felt he was a better legislator than administrator. I was sitting at my kitchen table when he called me and said how much he did not want to run. He was going to ask Roland Burris. [But, later] he said, “If no one else will do it, I will give it my best shot.’ He did give it his best shot.

Mayor Harold Washington joins several members of the Women's Network to Re- Elect Mayor Washington at a fundraiser/open house held in his honor. The organization hosted the event on Jan. 25, 1987 at the home of Diann Deweese Smith. In addition to the mayor, several prominent women from the Washington administration were invited, including Sharon Gist-Gilliam, Brenda Gaines, Lois Weisberg, and Liz Hollander.

(Peter J. Shulz/Chicago Public Library photo)

I think I have his first official signature after he became mayor. He didn't want a big inaugural party, just his people together with him to celebrate his victory, upstairs at the Hilton. When I walked in, he was sitting in front of the window. Buckingham Fountain was directly in front of him. I put my arm around him and said, ‘It's all yours, Mr. Mayor.’ For some reason I wanted an autograph. He picked up a scrap of paper and wrote, ‘To the lovely and loyal Josie, Mayor Harold Washington.’ Half an hour after his inauguration, a receipt from a menu, and he dated it.

We’re doing a commemorative book and the same message comes through about his brilliance, his ability to bring people together Black and white, his love of children and seniors.

There was a lady whose husband served with Harold in Springfield. I guess he was Greek. She took them somewhere in neighborhood to meet people. Her father refused to shake his hand. He had been raised racist. When Harold died, her father told her he was always sorry he didn’t shake his hand.

His biggest achievement? Harold opened his favorite conversation with, ‘I am going to be fair.’

When I talk about Harold's legacy, I think about the time I was coming home in a cab. When I got to 53rd, you could see the building he lived in. I commented to the cabdriver. He said, ‘My man,’ and he talked about Harold until he dropped me off.

Everybody – even the wino on the street – what was it that caused them to say, ‘I never voted until I voted for Harold.’ You hear that all the time. ‘That was my first vote.’ I don’t hear anyone saying they were sorry they did it. He was brilliant, absolutely brilliant.

StreetWise Vendor John Hagan Jr.

As a resident of Cicero during the time Harold Washington was mayor, I frequently visited my mother and her three sisters in the McKinley Park/ Bridgeport area when it was a white neighborhood. It was first Richard M. Daley territory. Then, after the primary election, when Washington secured the nomination, it was pro- Bernard Epton, the Republican candidate. There was a deep dislike for Harold Washington; the white community had feared that if he became mayor, he would start a Daley-like machine that would potentially send most whites packing.

Washington won, but a lot of fears weren’t realized among the white community. My mother and three sisters remained in Chicago. Washington believed the old Chicago machine, Daley and Ald. Ed Vrdolyak didn’t represent the Black and Brown communities and felt things must be changed. It was like a political civil war.

In the end, Washington’s personality won enough doubting Thomases to help with the changes. He created excitement and an open-door management policy where people would end up liking him. If he had lived longer, he would have completely changed the landscape of Chicago and ended the Daley dynasty much sooner.

Roland Burris

Roland Burris had just been reelected Illinois comptroller by a big margin on the first Tuesday in November 1982, when Harold Washington called him the following Saturday. He asked for a meeting on Monday: 4 p.m., at Burris’s house.

Harold looked at me and said, 'Comptroller, I don’t want to run for mayor. I think you should run.’

I looked at him and said, ‘Congressman. We can’t do that. The people will hang me in effigy if I were to take your place.’ Harold had that deep support. He led the state ticket in 1982, with more votes than even Gov. James Thompson.' Meanwhile, in 1978, Burris had been elected comptroller, the first Black elected to statewide office.

He was going to announce on Wednesday [Nov. 10, 1982]. We went back and forth for almost an hour. I made a suggestion. The deal we made is that 'You go out and announce. If you run into trouble – get sick – then I will seek to run in your place.'

Burris had already said no to a group of six Black Democratic committeemen who asked him to run the day after the election, because Washington had left the party and become an independent.

The day after Washington announced his mayoral candidacy, all these negative reports came out about Harold being in jail, not following up on legal matters. On that Thursday night I got phone calls, and, fortunately, I was scheduled to go out of town on Saturday. Friday, I took off to a comptrollers’ meeting in Tennessee to hide out. I didn’t want to deal with all the fallout. All that negativism blew over. He persevered. I didn’t have to run.

After three terms as comptroller, Burris served as Illinois attorney general. In January 2009, he was appointed by Gov. Rod Blagojevich to fill the unexpired term of Barack Obama, who was newly elected President. He served until November 2010.

Congressman Danny K. Davis

U.S. Rep. Danny K. Davis (D-Chicago) served in the Chicago City Council as an independent alderman from the 29th ward from 1979 until 1990. He was among the 21 City Council members who sided with Mayor Harold Washington, as opposed to the Vrdolyak 29. He is now congressman from the 7th District.

One has to start with the background of Chicago. It was a patronage haven, that is, if you wanted to work for City Hall or state government, it was ‘Don’t bring nobody, [that] nobody sent’ [you had to have been referred by someone with clout]. Patronage ran City Hall, state and county government. There were tremendous disparities for African American and Hispanic communities, other minority groups.

South Side wards and the wards I represent went into the City Council as the Independent South Side. There was an IPO North Side and the independent groups ended up merging. There were some Blacks in the group. Lu Palmer and a bunch of other folks, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, a bunch of us were independent and were searching for a Black mayor. Lu had a plebiscite and Harold emerged as the No. 1 Black politician in Chicago.

So we enticed him to run.

I remember [previous Mayor] Jane Byrne had disappointed the African American community, because she had garnered support and pretty much reneged after she was elected. She took Blacks off the school board that she replaced with two extremist whites, one from the Southwest Side and one from the Northwest Side.

The Black community was upset. Harold had this charisma. He was a great wordsmith, a tremendous organizer, and of course, he was witty and charming. He could generate enthusiasm, so he managed to get elected.

After the election, we went through that period with Aldermen Ed Vrdolyak (10th) and Ed Burke (14th) where Harold couldn’t get past what they agreed to. They had 29 votes. Harold only had 21 [on the 50-member Chicago City Council].

[The so-called “Council Wars” ended by May 1986, after a federal court ordered special elections in seven wards that had been remapped to retain white power, even though white population had declined in the 1980 census relative to Blacks and Latinos. Washington-backed alderpersons picked up 4 seats, making it 25-25 on the Chicago City Council.]

On April 15, 1986, Mayor Harold Washington turned 64 years old. His fiancee, Mary Ella Smith, along with attorney Scott Hodes and the Mayor Washington Birthday Committee, threw "The Party of a Lifetime" for him at Navy Pier. As bands played Stevie Wonder's "Happy Birthday to You," he blew out the candles on an 8-foot birthday cake. Funds raised from the party went to the city-wide voter registration and voter education programs.

(Antonio B. Dickey / Chicago Public Library photo)

(Antonio B. Dickey / Chicago Public Library photo)

Every item was a draw. The votes would always go down, 25-25, 25-25, so obviously, a great deal of acrimony was created. Harold would always win. He had the ability to break the tie.

He went through the whole city; no matter what the City Council did, he was promoting fairness, treating every community the same way, the same opportunities for everyone. He created a balanced cabinet made up of Black, white, Hispanics, Indians, Asians, people from all walks of life. Given that, he became seriously beloved, because he walked the streets and talked to people, went to meetings, made his quippy comments that people were always looking forward to. He became a good friend of the press, which means the press was favorable to him. With that combination of press and people, Harold became pretty much bigger than life. His infrastructure program did streets and alleys all over town. There was money to fix up areas that had never been fixed up.

There was excitement in the air, the creation of Local School Councils, getting things done. Harold was the most open mayor that the City of Chicago had ever seen. Wherever you held community meetings, there was not enough room. The level of excitement was just super.

Harold was so down to earth, obviously intelligent, well-educated. He knew all the protocols of life but was a pretty regular guy when you got right down to it.

He left an incredible mark. He was instrumental in diminishing patronage to the extent government became far more open, far more embracing. He gave people a sense that the government belonged to them, and they did not belong to the government. I think that was the greatest contribution.

Peter Nolan

Award-winning journalist, playwright and former television political news reporter Peter Nolan is a native of Buffalo, New York, who made his way to Chicago in 1968, hired by NBC5 (then WMAQ-TV). He spent the next 18 years of his career there. “I’m not sure there was ever a better time to be a newsman in this town,” he says of that era.

Nolan began working on his acclaimed book "Campaign!" in 1983. But it kept getting pushed to the back burner until around 2004, when he embarked in earnest. Interviewing scores of people, watching countless hours of videotape, and reading dozens of books, he joined it all together with his many memories of the historic election that gave Chicago its first African-American mayor, Harold Washington. “Harold was an astonishing personality,” says Nolan. “He was a great orator, and let’s just say that up until that time Chicago’s mayors had not been known for their oratorical skills. He really was larger than life and energized the African-American community in ways no one was able to imagine.”

When Richard J. Daley died unexpectedly on Dec. 20, 1976, there was nobody he had anointed. [“Campaign” starts with the City Council election of Mayor Michael Bilandic to finish Daley’s term and then the general election in 1977.]

There was a 100-year snowstorm in 1979. Everyone was angry like they are today with COVID. People were digging out their cars and the Bilandic team said, ‘we’re printing lists of school parking lots we’re plowing': they put the wrong list in the Tribune. CTA Trains were passing people by in the Black neighborhoods. That’s how [Byrne] got elected in '79.

Byrne served a full term; she moved into Cabrini Green, which looked like a political coup. Residents said they were getting police protection, a lot of improvements.

The ethnic blocs were as strong as they ever had been, but they got divided on their horses in the campaign of 1982- 83. Mayor Jane Byrne and Richard M. Daley split that vote, then you had the Black vote. You had had a big increase in Black voter registration in the governor’s race between Adlai Stevenson and Jim Thompson in 1982.

Harold Washington’s candidacy didn’t take anyone by surprise. He certainly had the experience. Not only had he been a state representative, he had been a state senator and headed the Black Caucus in both of those. As a congressman, he helped get the federal holiday for Dr. King.

The cover of "Campaign!" Harold Washington 100th Birthday Edition from Amika Press, featuring cover photo by Marc PoKempner.

(photo provided by Marc PoKempner)

I don’t think anybody could see how this was going to go. There were different polls every week. I did cover him at the UIC Pavilion. Nineteen thousand people there for three hours and nobody left their seats. I hadn’t seen that kind of enthusiasm throughout my career. That particular night I thought, ‘Boy this guy could be a contender.’ We really had no clue. It looked for much of the [Democratic] primary like a fight between Daley and Byrne.

There was some indication the numbers could work [for Washington] because of the increased registration among African Americans, if Daley and Byrne split the vote. He did get 99 percent of the African American vote and about 12 percent of the white vote he needed: lakefront liberals. Still, it was a surprise. She lost the election to Harold Washington. Daley came in third. All the major pundits said you could never beat the machine. She ran the machine.

Republicans nominated Bernard Epton for mayor, who adopted a thinly veiled racial epithet at the end of his TV commercials: “Epton: Before it’s too late.” With voter turnout at 82 percent, Washington won the mayor’s office with 668,176 votes (51.8 percent) – but just 48,250 more than Epton.

Harold charmed the pants off everyone: newsmedia and public alike. His broad smile and deep baritone voice were a winning combination. Chicagoans weren’t used to a mayor who was so articulate. He used words like ‘assiduously.’ He had a very engaging personality.

His biggest achievement was that he opened up the government quite a bit: transparency. He also opened up city contracts that were controlled by the machine for so many years. More people got a chance.

Peter Nolan's book, “Campaign! The Election That Rocked Chicago” combines research with his memories of Harold Washington’s rise. He will discuss it with Rick Kogan of the Chicago Tribune April 20 at the Society of Midland Authors, at Cliff Dwellers, 220 S. Michigan Ave., 22nd floor penthouse. Free appetizers and cash bar 6-7 p.m., with the discussion 7-8 p.m. Free to the public, no reservations required.

Jane Ramsey

Jane Ramsey was Director of Community Relations for the Office of the Mayor, a cabinet-level post Harold Washington created and asked her to take. The purpose of the position was to build a bridge to communities and their organizations throughout Chicago, strengthening the Administration’s on-going communications, relationships, outreach and engagement, ensuring the Mayor and his administration best understood their issues and concerns and providing on-going and direct access; and partnership opportunities between community leadership, residents and the mayor and his administration.

What about Mayor Harold Washington makes him so powerful in historic memory? What was Harold Washington’s biggest achievement?

Ramsey with Washington.

(photos provided by Jane Ramsey)

Mayor Harold Washington was an exciting, engaging, charismatic leader who brought his progressive vision to the Mayor’s office and City Hall, his commitment and realization of fairness and service to ALL neighborhoods in Chicago and his busting of the corrupt practices of the past. He brought hope. He was blessed with a joyful spirit, a wonderful sense of humor, a love of people - all people - and a keen understanding of Chicago’s Democratic Party; how he needed to change the way things were done and the way the administration needed to maneuver politically. He was brilliant strategically and had the capacity to bring many competing sides together. He was a lover of reading, engaging people intellectually, and one-onone, taking on tough challenges, bringing change to families, Chicago and the country. When Harold Washington ran for Mayor and won, the city was galvanized, his vision was infectious, exciting. So many who had been excluded and disenfranchised saw hope in his becoming mayor…and were not disappointed when he delivered access, jobs and services to so many neighborhoods that had been previously excluded, neglected and discriminated against. He did open up the City, while continuing to deliver access, jobs and services to those communities that had been favored by previous administrations. His administration was a wonderful rainbow, the most diverse of any administration before him or since – racially, ethnically, religiously, gender-wise, geographically.

Because of his inclusive approach to governing, fresh ideas emerged, for example, regarding economic development strategies, women’s rights, the needs of the Latinx communities, the needs of LGBTQ+ communities. City contracts for the first time were required to include minority and women participation. Environmental issues were considered. Neighborhood health clinics and social services proliferated. School reforms were galvanized. Patronage was ended on day 1, as Harold described, “When I’m elected mayor I’m going to stomp on patronage until it’s dead, dead, dead!" And he did!

Washington with Ramsey's son, Josh.

(photo provided by Jane Ramsey)

Among the unfinished business of Harold Washington is the full civic engagement of the communities – youth in particular – and continued reform and accountability of City departments and related agencies, particularly police and schools.

My favorite memory of Harold? There are so many. One personal memory is when I brought my newborn son, Josh, to a public reception with community leaders, and introduced him to Harold, who proceeded to take him, holding him with a huge smile, large hands and to the delight of a zillion cameras. Harold loved children and he always warmly greeted and encouraged me and several other expectant moms during the campaign leading up to his election with a big smile, saying “Hello, Mother!”

I loved, too, his exuberance and joy when relating to crowds, his knowing that when Chicagoans went to other cities around the world, people always asked, “How’s Harold?” He loved that.

Dick Simpson

Dick Simpson is a professor of political science at the University of Illinois Chicago and a former Chicago alderman.

Harold Washington left us a legacy:

1 Harold permanently changed the balance of power between the races in Chicago for the better;

2 Harold shifted city policies from downtown development and a downtown power elite to a balance of economic development and power with neighborhoods;

3 Harold ended the old machine, even though a new machine has arisen under the Mayors Rahm Emanuel and Richard M. Daley;

4 Harold was the first Black mayor in Chicago’s history. And he was elected by a rainbow coalition of races and ages.

Harold Washington symbolizes what Chicago can become. Thousands flocked to support Harold Washington in his election campaigns – he was the right man with the right message at the right time.

A pre-mayoral portrait of Washington in 1981.

(Marc PoKempner photo)

When he announced his campaign, he appealed to the whole city. He declared that day: “The City that supposedly works, doesn’t....Chicago is a city divided where citizens are treated unequally and unfairly...I see a Chicago that runs well, but in which services are provided as a right, not as political favors. I see a Chicago of education excellence and equality of treatment...in which jobs and contracts are dispensed fairly... and in which justice rains down like water. I see a Chicago in which the neighborhoods are once again the center of our city, in which businesses boom and provide neighborhood jobs, in which neighbors join together to help govern their neighborhoods and their city.”

His reforms are Harold’s legacy. To stand for any one reform would have been noble, but standing for all, created a movement with which Harold could win the closest mayoral election in Chicago’s history.

Before Harold, Chicago was governed by patronage, but Harold signed the consent decree outlawing patronage hiring.

Before Harold, we had no right to see the city government documents our tax dollars paid for. But Harold issued an Executive Freedom of Information Order and in 1987 passed the first Ethics Ordinance in Chicago’s history.

Before Harold, there was no affirmative action in city jobs and contracts, but we have that today.

Before Harold, the city’s infrastructure was falling apart, but he passed the largest Neighborhood Bond Ordinance in Chicago’s history.

Former members of Harold’s administration make this legitimate claim: the floor of city government has been permanently raised. The old Chicago Machine is not “dead, dead, dead” as Harold proclaimed, but it has been crippled.

His legacy lives on his 100th birthday. But it is our job to carry it forward.