William Ridley Spaulding (June 15, 1924 – November 1, 2021) was an American politician during the 1970s and 1980s who, running as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

, was elected one of the original members of the

Council of the District of Columbia The Council of the District of Columbia (or simply D.C. Council) is the legislative branch of the government of the District of Columbia. As permitted in the United States Constitution, the district is not part of any U.S. state and is overseen ...

in the aftermath of

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

gaining home rule in 1973. A native of North Carolina, William Spaulding attended

Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...

, a private, historically black educational institution in Washington, DC, from which he graduated in 1947 with a B.S. in

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

. He worked as a teacher in D.C. public schools from 1947 to 1952 and was on the faculty of his alma mater, Howard, from 1950 to 1960, while also serving as an engineer at the

National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is an intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the director of national intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collection, and proces ...

from 1952 to 1974. In 1955, while teaching at Howard, he married Dolores Hinton, a music education major at the university, and they became the parents of three daughters, Deirdre, Michele and Angelyn. Following the congressional passage of

District of Columbia home rule District of Columbia home rule is the District of Columbia residents' ability to govern their local affairs. The District is the federal capital; as such, the Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or est ...

, he left his position with the

NSA The National Security Agency (NSA) is an intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the director of national intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collection, and proces ...

and campaigned for a seat on the D.C. Council, taking office in 1975. In 1978, while serving on the council, he embarked upon additional duties as producer of the area's best-known local talent show, ''Metro Talent Search'' and, in 1980, accepted the position of instructor at

University of the District of Columbia The University of the District of Columbia (UDC) is a public historically black land-grant university in Washington, D.C., United States. The only public university in the city, it traces its origins to 1851 and opened in its current form in 1 ...

, another historically black institution of higher learning. He has also served as chair of the Fort Lincoln Foundation and board member of the Kidney Foundation and the

American Heart Association The American Heart Association (AHA) is a nonprofit organization in the United States that funds cardiovascular medical research, educates consumers on healthy living and fosters appropriate Heart, cardiac care in an effort to reduce disability ...

. Having represented Ward 5 on the council from 1975 to 1987, he was defeated by Harry Thomas Sr. in the 1986 Democratic primary, but continued his government career in the position of director of Department of Administrative Services for the District of Columbia Court System. In February 2005, on the occasion of their fiftieth wedding anniversary, William Spaulding and Dolores Hinton Spaulding were honored by the D.C. Council for their many years of public service. Spaulding died on November 1, 2021, at the age of 97.William Spaulding obituary
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References

1924 births 2021 deaths African-American engineers African-American people in Washington, D.C., politics Schoolteachers from Washington, D.C. 21st-century American engineers Howard University alumni Howard University faculty Members of the Council of the District of Columbia Washington, D.C., Democrats University of the District of Columbia faculty 21st-century African-American academics 21st-century American academics 20th-century African-American academics 20th-century American academics {{WashingtonDC-politician-stub