Preceded by Julius Hobson Died December 16, 2007 Role Politician | Name Hilda Mason Succeeded by David Catania | |
Born June 14, 1916 ( 1916-06-14 ) Political party D.C. Statehood Green Party | ||
Hilda Howland Mae Mason (June 14, 1916 – December 16, 2007) was a politician and statehood advocate in Washington, D.C. She was a member of the D.C. Statehood Party and served as an at-large member of the Council of the District of Columbia from 1977 to 1999, becoming, at the time, the longest-serving elected official in the district's history since the beginning of home rule.
Raised in Altavista, Virginia, Mason moved to Washington, D.C., in 1945. She worked as a teacher and then an assistant principal. She chose the middle name Howland in recognition of a northern white woman who taught Mason and other southern black women. It was on the picket lines where she met Charlie Mason, a white man who had graduated from Harvard University and Howard University Law School. They married at All Souls Church in 1965.
In the mid-1990s, Mason's mental condition came into question, and her behavior was described as "sometimes-erratic and unpredictable". She began calling herself the "Grandmother to the world". Statehood Party officials tried to get her to retire, which she resisted, but eventually they succeeded, only to realize that they had nobody to replace her, at which point they worked to persuade her not to retire. By then, however, the electorate was tired of the issue and she finished third in an at-large race that elected two council members.