Harold Washington greets supporters while campaigning in the Loop only days after winning the Democratic nomination for mayor.
State Rep. Harold Washington makes a point during a session in Springfield in 1967. Washington earned a reputation as a gadfly among organization Democrats.
U.S. Rep. Harold Washington and Mayor Jane Byrne greet each other after the three-way mayoral debate on Jan. 18, 1983, which included State’s Attorney Richard M. Daley. This was the frst scheduled debate among the Democratic candidates in the primary contest.
Harold Washington, accompanied by his fiancee Mary Ella Smith, left, celebrates winning the Democratic nomination for the mayor of Chicago in 1983. Washington upset Mayor Jane Byrne and up-and-comer Richard M. Daley.
Mayor Harold Washington in a Chicago Tribune portrait session in 1987.
The gladiators, Harold Washington, Richard Daley and Jane Byrne, in the mayoral debate on Jan. 31, 1983, are “at ease” for a moment after the last question was answered. It was their fourth and final debate.
Harold Washington is surrounded by supporters as he campaigns at the corner of 63rd and Halsted streets in Chicago in 1983.
Harold Washington takes the oath of office as mayor of Chicago, administered by Circuit Judge Charles Freeman, in 1983. At right are Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, outgoing Mayor Jane Byrne and her husband, Jay McMullen.
Mayor Harold Washington on the day of his inauguration at Navy Pier in 1983.
Democratic mayoral candidate Harold Washington shakes hands with students at DuSable High School in 1983. Washington graduated from the school in 1942.
Mayor Harold Washington tours the boiler room of the Ida B. Wells Homes project in December 1983. “All this just didn’t happen overnight,” he said of the problems plaguing the developments during the severe cold.
White Sox owner Eddie Einhorn talks with Mayor Harold Washington at a Sox game, circa October 1983.
Mayor Harold Washington, left, talks with Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton before the start of a fundraising dinner in Little Rock in 1983. Earlier, Washington agreed to cancel two other appearances including a reception at the governor’s mansion because of the objections of local black leaders.
Mayor Harold Washington gets a warm reception from Spiegel employees during a tour of the mail-order operation at 1040 W. 35th St. The company said it plans to stay in Chicago and renovate its plant, which employs 2,000 people.
Mayor Harold Washington arrives at City Hall in 1983.
U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., with Mayor Harold Washington in Chicago on March 23, 1983.
A flag-waving Mayor Harold Washington joins CTA Chairman Michael Cardilli and Gov. James Thompson at ceremonies inaugurating the final leg of the CTA’s rapid transit line extension to O’Hare International Airport in September 1984.
Samantha Whitside, Student Council president at Collins High School, presents a school T-shirt to Mayor Harold Washington, who appeared at the school for a Black History Month address in 1984. The shirt bore the words “Living the Dream” and showed a city landscape with Washington and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. rising from it.
Donald Perkins, chairman of the Commercial Club’s project on the state of Chicago’s economy, meets with Mayor Harold Washington to deliver the group’s dismal report on Dec. 18, 1984. The report called for a 20-year jobs recovery effort.
Mayor Harold Washington gestures in apology to a student seeking a handshake as he is accompanied by Principal Grady Jordan across the Collins High School gym. “You must be heard to be considered,” he told an enthusiastic audience. “You must register and vote, but that is just the start …”
Ald. Clifford P. Kelley, left, confers with Mayor Harold Washington during a City Council meeting in 1984.
Mayor Harold Washington takes time to meet supporters outside the Northeastern Illinois University auditorium on Aug. 13, 1984. Washington appeared at the university’s Center for Inner City Studies to give testimony on youth and employment to a congressional hearing.
Historian Dempsey Travis presents a historic photograph to Mayor Harold Washington during a celebration of the History of Black Jazz at the Chicago Public Library Cultural Center in 1984. In the picture, along with a young Washington, left, are Duke Ellington, center, and Travis.
Mayor Harold Washington does his version of the “Super Bowl shuffle” at City Hall on Dec. 16, 1985, with Richard Dent, from left, Otis Wilson and Willie Gault of the Bears. The players appeared with the mayor to announce that a portion of proceeds from the players’ new record will be donated to the Sharing-It program.
Asked a question about his plan to end the hiring and firing of city workers, Mayor Harold Washington confers with Corporation Counsel James Montgomery before being accused of “passing the buck” by a City Hall reporter in February 1985. Washington then happily let Montgomery field the query about administration compliance with federal orders known as the Shakman Decree.
Mayor Harold Washington meets those attending a gay rights rally in Lincoln Park in 1984. Washington promised to sign an ordinance prohibiting discrimination against gays if it was approved by the Chicago City Council. He said the fight for gay rights is part of the larger struggle for civil rights.
Mayor Harold Washington signs 9-year-old Dethra Anderson’s cast during a Halloween visit to Cook County Hospital on Oct. 31, 1985. Accompanied by Department of Human Services Commissioner Judith Walker, Chicago’s Bulls basketball team mascot Benny the Bull, Bozo the Clown and Chicago Cubs pitcher Lary Sorensen, Washington presented some 40 children with a coloring book, stickers, T-shirts and a Cubs watch.
U.S. Senate hopeful Roland Burris, from left, presidential candidate the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Mayor Harold Washington stand together at a rally in 1984.
Mayor Harold Washington talks to Ald. George Hagopian during a City Council meeting on April 25, 1984.
After warring over control of city contracts, political rivals Ald. Roman Pucinski and Mayor Harold Washington “cut the rug” at the Taste of Polonia in 1984. Washington’s partner is Delores Gentile of the Copernicus Foundation.
Democratic vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro appears at a campaign rally in Daley Plaza with Ald. Ed Vrdolyak, from left, State’s Attorney Richard M. Daley, U.S. Senate candidate Paul Simon and Mayor Harold Washington in 1984.
Ald. Dorothy Tillman gives Mayor Harold Washington a hug after he endorsed her for re-election at an Operation PUSH meeting in 1985.
Mayor Harold Washington and Ald. Ed Vrdolyak, 10th, have a rare, friendly conversation after a special City Council session in 1985.
Mayor Harold Washington outlines a 10-year plan on Dec. 30, 1985, to boost hiring of minorities and women in city government. Washington is flanked by Juan Velasquez, left, deputy commissioner for streets and sanitation, and Luis Gutierrez, streets and sanitation assistant general superintendent.
Mayor Harold Washington joins a group photo at the International Folk Fair in Donnelley Hall, where a smorgasbord of entertainment and culinary creations were on display in September 1985.
Appearing at the University of Illinois at Chicago campus, Lt. Gov. George Ryan assures Mayor Harold Washington that he is willing to ask for additional funds for the Build Illinois program in 1985.
The Refrigerettes, cheerleaders who took their name from Bears’ “Refrigerator” Perry, encourage Mayor Harold Washington as he bets on the Bears-Rams game with Anaheim Mayor Don Roth on Jan. 10, 1986.
“Mr. McClain, shut up. Don’t throw my name around,” Mayor Harold Washington says during a meeting on Jan. 7, 1986, with reporters in his City Hall office. He was referring to Clarence McClain, his controversial former aide.
Mayor Harold Washington is joined by an enthusiastic crowd during a visit to the Robert Taylor Homes in 1987.
Mayor Harold Washington shakes hands at the groundbreaking for townhouses at 46th Street and Woodlawn Avenue in 1987. It was his last public appearance before his heart attack later that day.
Beneath a huge portrait of Harold Washington, interim Mayor David Orr presides over a special meeting to memorialize the late mayor on Dec. 1, 1987.
Police Officer Curtis Jones stands as the lone guard outside the City Hall office of the late Mayor Harold Washington on the day he died at his desk Nov. 25, 1987.
An honor guard of firefighters and police officers carries Mayor Harold Washington’s casket into City Hall on Nov. 27, 1987. People waited in line for hours to view his body.
Alton Miller, from left, Judson Miner, Brenda Gaines and Jackie Grimshaw, all members of Mayor Harold Washington’s staff, attend his funeral on Nov. 30, 1987, at Christ Universal Temple in Chicago.
Students salute the hearse bearing Mayor Harold Washington’s casket as the funeral cortege passes Simeon Vocational High School on Nov. 30, 1987. South Side residents flooded out of their homes to stand in the drizzle and pay final respects to the late mayor.
A special section of the Chicago Tribune on Dec. 8, 1987, titled “Harold Washington: A mayor remembered.
