Walter E. Fauntroy papers, part 1

Walter E. Fauntroy was born in Washington, D.C. on February 6, 1933. He graduated from Dunbar High School in 1952 and received his Bachelor of Arts from Virginia Union University in 1955. He earned a bachelor of divinity from Yale University Divinity School in 1958. In 1959, he began his career in public service through his appointment as pastor of his childhood church, New Bethel Baptist Church. He served as pastor from 1959 until his retirement in 2009.

An advocate of civil rights, Fauntroy served as a leader in the civil rights movement. In 1960, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), appointed Fauntroy director of the Washington Bureau of SCLC. He remained in that position until 1971. As a director of SCLC, Fauntroy coordinated many historic events, including events leading up to the August 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and the 1965 March from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. In 1968, he served as the national coordinator of the Poor People's Campaign.

Fauntroy utilized his civil rights experience to promote urban redevelopment within the District of Columbia. He founded and served as the director of the Shaw Urban Renewal Project, and along with other Washington ministers, founded the Model Inner City Community Organization (MICCO), a neighborhood planning corporation. Fauntroy's active community involvement led to his first political position as the first vice chairman appointed to the District of Columbia Council in 1967. In 1969, Fauntroy resigned from the D.C. Council in order to focus more attention toward MICCO. Fauntroy's community service efforts and promotion of civil rights led him to work towards achieving rights for District residents. He became a vocal advocate for voting rights and representation within the District.

In 1970, Congress passed the Delegate Act enabling citizens of Washington D.C. to have representation in the United States House of Representatives. Subsequently in 1971, D.C residents elected Fauntroy to represent the District. Strongly supporting the right for full representation of the District, Fauntroy immediately began a legislative campaign in support of home rule. As a result, in 1973 the District of Columbia Self-Government and Government Reorganization Act became law. D.C. citizens were given the authority to elect a mayor and a city council. Fauntroy served in Congress for twenty years (1971-1991). He worked on many committees such as the Committee on the District of Columbia, the Committee Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs, the Committee on Banking, Currency and Housing, and the Committee on Banking and Currency. He also was part of the select committees on Assassinations, Narcotics and Control. He was a member of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the Democratic National Congressional Committee, and the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC).

During his tenure in Congress, Fauntroy chaired several committees, such as the District of Columbia Committee's Subcommittee on Fiscal Affairs. While serving on the Committee on Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs, he chaired the Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy and International Finance, Trade and Monetary Policy as well as a number of other subcommittees. He also served as the chairman for the CBC. Fauntroy utilized these committees to establish legislation in support of statehood for the District of Columbia. He founded the National Black Leadership Roundtable (NBLR), a network created under the auspices of the CBC, in support of domestic leadership. The "Free South Africa Movement" (FSAM) and the Congressional Task Force on Haiti serve as examples of Fauntroy's active involvement in international affairs. Under the direction of Fauntroy, NBLR developed and published The Black Leadership Family Plan for the Unity, Survival and Progress of Black People, and the Congressional Task Force on Haiti created United States policies that supported democracy, human rights promotion and economic development in Haiti.

The D.C. community has recognized and honored Fauntroy for his exemplary service. His alma maters awarded him with honorary doctor of divinity degrees. He received an honorary doctor of laws degree from Georgetown University Law Center for his leadership bringing the right to vote to the citizens of the District of Columbia. After delivering the Charter Day Convocation speech at Howard University in 1988, he was awarded the university's doctor of laws degree.