1987 Year in Review

Harold Washington had worked for minority rights and had risen to become mayor of one of the nation’s largest cities.

UPI Radio’s Jeannie Cossolla reports on Chicago, a city thrust into mourning by Washington’s unexpected death …

Harold Washington: "There was a time not long ago if you said you were Chicago, someone would make the crack, 'Al Capone, rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat'; but now anywhere in the world you go, you go to any of those places and you say you're from Chicago, you know what they'll say to you?"

"(Crowd cheering.)"

Harold Washington: "'How’s Harold?'"

"(Crowd cheering.)"

Jeannie Cossolla: "On November 25th, the 65-year-old Mayor was speaking with his Press Secretary, Alton Miller, when he suffered a massive heart attack … "

Alton Miller: "'He slumped to one side, I thought he was trying to pick something up off the floor, like a pen that he might have dropped, and I quickly realized that he … it was more serious than that.'"

"(Music.)"

Jeannie Cossolla: "Harold Washington’s funeral was held at a large church on the city’s south side. He was remembered by his friend, the Reverend Jesse Jackson … "

Reverend Jesse Jackson: "'You fought the good fight, Harold. You ran the good race, the strongest last leg we've ever seen.'"

Jeannie Cossolla: "The day after the funeral, Chicago’s City Council held a boisterous, all-night session and elected Eugene Sawyer, the city’s senior black alderman, as Acting Mayor.

"I'm Jeannie Cossolla."