Harold Washington

Harold Lee Washington was an American lawyer and politician elected as the 51st Mayor of Chicago in February 1983. He was the first AfricanAmerican to serve as Mayor of Chicago, in office from April 29, 1983 until his death on November 25, 1987. Washington was also a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1981 to 1983 representing the Illinois first district, and also previously served in the Illinois State Senate and the Illinois House of Representatives from 1965 until 1976.

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 seek her fortune in Chicago as a singer. She married Roy Washington soon after arriving in Chicago and the couple had three children, one named Kevin and the other named Ramon Price , who was a former artist and eventually became chief curator of The DuSable Museum of African American History.

Source: Wikipedia