Hilda Mason, 91, who served more than 20 years on the D.C. Council, died yesterday at Washington Hospital Center.
The Post has an obituary up (which perhaps unsurprisingly but a little creepily appears to have been largely written some time ago, as it notes at the bottom that one of its authors passed away in 2006), which details Mason’s status as the grand dame of local D.C. politics, having served on the Board of Education, the D.C. Council, as the director of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, and as a leader in the establishment of Home Rule, the founding of the University of the District of Columbia, and the fight for voting rights.
Mayor Fenty released the following statement: “Our city has lost a true legend today. From the earliest days of Home Rule to the present, as an elected official and a private citizen, Hilda Mason was a force behind the voting rights movement and the education of thousands of young people. On behalf of the entire District of Columbia government and the residents we serve, I want to extend my deepest condolences to Councilmember Mason’s family and friends.”
