Harold Washington

Washington, Harold (1922–87), U.S. lawyer, politician, first black mayor of Chicago, elected 1983 and 1987. Washington served in the Illinois House of Representatives (1965–76), the Illinois Senate (1976–80), and the U.S. House of Representatives (1981–83). In the racially charged 1983 Democratic primary for mayor he defeated Mayor Jane M. Byrne and Richard M. Daley (son of former mayor and party boss Richard J. Daley) and went on to defeat Republican Bernard E. Epton.