A Photo 50 Years in the Making: 50 Years of District Elected Officials Gather for an Iconic Home Rule 50th Anniversary “Family Photo”

Today, we at the DC Council are releasing the official photo of past and present elected officials dating from the 50 years of Home Rule local self-government through today.

On November 19, the largest-ever group of past and present senior District elected officials gathered at the John A. Wilson Building to celebrate 50 years of Home Rule for the District of Columbia. The event was organized and hosted by the DC Council. The group photo from that event was embargoed-until now.

Incredibly, since the dawn of Home Rule 50 years ago, just 69 officials have been elected as Councilmembers, Mayors, Attorneys General, and House Delegates here in DC. Sadly, 18 of those officials have passed away, meaning the number of living Home Rule elected officials is an amazing…51. (Clearly a good omen for DC Statehood!)

Of those 51 officials, a remarkable 46 were in attendance at our November 19 event, and 45 are seen in the now-released official photo. See the full list of attendees below. (By comparison, when we took a similar "family photo" ten years ago for the 40^th Anniversary of Home Rule, "only" 34 former and current DC Councilmembers were able to come together for that photo.)

Additional photos from the Home Rule 50^th Anniversary photo shoot organized and hosted by the DC Council will be released in the coming days.

The event recalled the history, strategy, hard work, and sacrifice that led to the milestone accomplishment of Home Rule for the District of Columbia. We also reflected on the potential impacts the recent federal election could have on Home Rule, and the reality that much work remains on the long road to our goals of Legislative autonomy, full voting rights in Congress, and, ultimately, statehood.

For further information regarding the history of Home Rule, and this 50^th Anniversary, please see our December 2023 articleon the topic.

Front Row: Sharon Pratt, Rev. James Coates, Jim Nathanson, Jack Evans, Carol Schwartz, Arrington Dixon, Linda Cropp, Betty Ann Kane, William Lightfoot, Frank Smith, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Charlene Drew Jarvis

Middle Row: Tommy Wells, Kathy Patterson, Eydie Whittington, Kevin Chavous, Yvette Alexander, Sekou Biddle, David Catania, Vincent Orange, Brandon Todd, Kwame Brown, David Grosso, LaRuby May, Harry Thomas Jr., Anthony Williams, Harold Brazil, Michael Brown

Back Row: Christina Henderson, Elissa Silverman, Brianne Nadeau, Karl Racine, Mary Cheh, Zachary Parker, Brooke Pinto, Kenyan McDuffie, Phil Mendelson, Muriel Bowser, Anita Bonds, Charles Allen, Robert White Jr., Janeese Lewis George, Wendell Felder, Matt Frumin, Trayon White Sr.

Present at the event, but not in the photo: Sandy Allen

Absent from the photo: Walter Fauntroy, Adrian Fenty, Vincent Gray, John Ray, Brian Schwalb

Sadly no longer with us: Sharon Ambrose, Marion Barry, David Clarke, HR Crawford, Jim Graham, Willie Hardy, Julius Hobson, Hilda Mason, Jerry Moore Jr., Robert Moore, Wilhelmina Rolark, Polly Shackleton, William Spaulding, Harry Thomas Sr., Sterling Tucker, Walter Washington, John Wilson, Nadine Winter

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