Walter Washington Dies at 88

By Martin Weil
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, October 28, 2003; 7:53 AM

Walter E. Washington, 88, who led the District through the turbulence of the 1960s and 1970s and served as the city's first elected mayor in modern times, died early today at Howard University Hospital.

His death was announced by a spokesman for Mayor Anthony A. Williams' office.

The cause of death was not immediately available, but he had been hospitalized for several weeks.

As the first black person to head the government of a major U.S. city, Washington was a symbol of the great changes that were to come in American society, as the gains of the civil rights struggle were translated into political reality.