Democracy for DC! Washington, D.C. Home Rule Act Passed
The District of Columbia Home Rule Act, passed on this day, created self-government for the District by transferring certain powers previously reserve to Congress.
The law allowed the voters in the city to elect its own mayor and city council.
On January 2, 1975, Walter Washington was sworn in as the first elected mayor of the city. In recent decades, residents, city leaders, and others have campaigned for granting statehood to the District.
Learn more about statehood for Washington, DC: http://dc.gov/page/statehood
Take the civil rights history tour of Washington, DC: http://washington.org/dc-itinerary/dc-itinerary-major-civil-rights-sites-1-day
Learn more: Harry Jaffe, Dream City: Race, Power, and the Decline of Washington (1994)
Visit the National Museum of African American History and Culture here