Editing Harold Washington (section)

== Early political career ==
After completing law school, Washington went into private practice with his father in 1952.<ref name="Illinois Library"/> His law office was near those of [[Ralph Metcalfe]], former Olympic track athlete turned Chicago city alderman for the Third Ward.{{sfn|Rivlin|1992|pp=45-46}} Following his father's death in 1953, Washington succeeded his father as Third Ward precinct captain in 1954 and became an assistant prosecutor with the Chicago [[corporation counsel]] office.{{sfn|Rivlin|1992|p=46}}<ref name="History House"/>
[[Richard J. Daley]] was elected party chairman in 1952. Daley replaced C.C. Wimbush, an ally of [[William L. Dawson (politician)|William Dawson]], on the party committee with Metcalfe. Under Metcalfe, the 3rd Ward was a critical factor in Mayor Daley's 1955 mayoral election victory and ranked first in the city in the size of its Democratic plurality in 1961.<ref name="levinsohn_75">Hamlish Levinsohn (1983), p. 75.</ref> While working under Metcalfe, Washington began to organize the 3rd Ward's [[Young Democrats of America|Young Democrats]] (YD) organization. At YD conventions, the 3rd Ward would push for numerous resolutions in the interest of blacks. Eventually, other black YD organizations would come to the 3rd Ward headquarters for advice on how to run their own organizations. Like he had at Roosevelt College, Washington avoided radicalism and preferred to work through the party to engender change.<ref name="levinsohn_86-90">Hamlish Levinsohn (1983), pp. 86–90.</ref>
While working with the Young Democrats, Washington met Mary Ella Smith.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1988/11/27/mary-ella-smith-still-keeps-the-flame/ |title=Mary Ella Smith Still Keeps The Flame |website=[[Chicago Tribune]] |date=November 27, 1988 |access-date=May 26, 2018}}</ref> They dated for the next 20 years, and in 1983 Washington proposed to Smith. In an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times, Smith said that she never pressed Washington for marriage because she knew Washington's first love was politics, saying, "He was a political animal. He thrived on it, and I knew any thoughts of marriage would have to wait. I wasn't concerned about that. I just knew the day would come."<ref name="kup_19871227">{{cite news |url=http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:NewsBank:CSTB&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=0EB36DA09871C50C&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated5&req_dat=AA98CDC331574F0ABEAFF732B33DC0B2 |title=Kup on Sunday |author=Kup |date=December 27, 1987 |access-date=February 15, 2008 |newspaper=Chicago Sun-Times}}</ref>

In 1959 Al Janney, Gus Savage, Lemuel Bentley, Bennett Johnson, Luster Jackson and others founded the Chicago League of Negro Voters, one of the first African-American political organizations in the city. In its first election, Bentley drew 60,000 votes for city clerk. The endorsement of the League was deciding factor in the re-election of Leon Despres who was an independent voice in the City Council. Washington was a close friend of the founders of the League and worked with them from time to time. The League was key in electing Anna Langford, William Cousins and A. A. "Sammy" Rayner who were not part of the Daley machine. In 1963 the group moved to racially integrate and formed Protest at the Polls at a citywide conference which Washington independent candidates had gained traction within the black community, winning several aldermanic seats. In 1983, Protest at the Polls was instrumental in Washington's run for mayor. By then, the YDs were losing to
independent candidates.<ref name="levinsohn_91-92,97">Hamlish Levinsohn (1983), pp. 91–92, 97.</ref>