Longtime D.C. Councilwoman Hilda Howland Mason died Sunday at the age of 91, and District leaders responded with praise for her as a champion for education and voting rights.
Mason served on the council between 1977 and 1998, winning five campaigns before her defeat at the hands of current Councilman David Catania.
Before her tenure on the council, Mason was a teacher, counselor and assistant principal in the D.C. Public Schools, and represented Ward 4 on the D.C. Board of Education.
“Hilda Mason was the kind of champion for education in her time that drives people like me today,” Council Chairman Vincent Gray said in a statement. “Her brand of fortitude and tenacity is what we all aspire to in our public service.”
Mayor Adrian Fenty praised Mason as a “true legend.”
“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,” Fenty said.
Mason was born in Campbell County, Va., on June 14, 1916, and moved to the District in 1945. Her grandson serves on the board of directors of DC Vote, the advocacy group charged with bringing congressional representation to District residents.
“I am sad to have learned of the passing of former Council Member Hilda Howland Mason,” said D.C. Councilman Phil Mendelson. “But it is a blessing that she lived a long life full of great contributions to humanity — as a teacher, civil rights activist, warrior for home rule and statehood, and legislator.”
Mason also served 19 years on the Metro board of directors.
