Preserving a Mayor's Legacy

The legacy of the District's first elected mayor, the late Walter E. Washington, will live on in perpetuity through 150 boxes of his papers that were donated last year to Howard University.

Washington, who was elected in 1974, graduated from Howard in 1938 and received a law degree a decade later.

Mary Burke Washington, the former mayor's widow, and Howard University President H. Patrick Swygert dedicated the archives at a ceremony yesterday in the Founder's Library on campus. The papers will be maintained by the University's Moorland-Spingarn Research Center (MSRC).

"Howard University is honored to have received the archives of the Honorable Walter E. Washington," Swygert said in a news release. "Students and researchers from generations to come will have the opportunity to glean from significant historical documents of such an extraordinary trailblazer."

Thomas Battle, director of the research center, said Washington's papers, dating from 1915 to 2003, enhance other collections from organizations and individuals, including former mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly, Washington power broker Vernon Jordan, the Congressional Black Caucus and others.

Seniors Drive Protest Home

At any given council meeting, you may find lobbyists in designer suits trying to persuade the city's legislators to do things their way. But the high-paid lobbyists have not been among the strongest and most persuasive groups of late.

Instead, the protests have come from the city's senior citizens, who are opposed to the recent enforcement of a 34-year-old law that requires drivers 75 and older to take special medical, written and road tests. The group has spoken out in the chambers of the John A. Wilson Building, in e-mails, phone calls and letters.

D.C. Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) has heard their concerns. He has listened to seniors complain about the unfairness of the law, which states that the seniors "may" be required to take the additional tests. After a review of the law, officials of the Department of Motor Vehicles started enforcing some of the country's strictest driving tests in May 2005. Only New Hampshire and Illinois require road tests for older drivers.

Graham said he doesn't see the need for the additional tests, which he said "pose a real burden for older drivers."

Bowing to pressure, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D), along with Graham and Lucinda Babers, acting director of the DMV, planned to announce a temporary administrative change to this policy this week.

Graham said he wants the city to suspend the road and written tests until the council completes its review of the legislation.

"This helps because we had so many seniors complaining," Graham said. "We heard what they were saying."