Former Pa. State Sen. Hardy Williams, 78

Former Democratic State Sen. Hardy Williams, 78, who helped pave the way for African Americans to be elected mayor of Philadelphia, died of complications from Alzheimer's disease today at Kearsley, a retirement community in West Philadelphia.

In a January 2008 appreciation, Philadelphia Daily News columnist Elmer Smith wrote that Mr. Williams "and the late John White Sr. founded the Black Political Forum in 1967 and cleared a path to the mayor's office for W. Wilson Goode and John Street."

"When Michael Nutter takes office . . . it will be in no small measure an outgrowth of the vision those men had of a movement away from what they called the 'plantation politics' of a Democratic Party that used to hand pick the few black candidates that it occasionally slated for elected office," the column read.

The column was poignant because Smith interviewed Mr. Williams at Kearsley, where "he [was] in an early stage of a degenerative dementia that threatens to erase his memories of a lifetime of political activism and public service."

Although he had successes outside his city - he was an Air Force officer and the first black person to play basketball for Penn State - Mr. Williams' impact was greatest in his hometown.

He was, Inquirer associate editor emeritus Acel Moore said, "the godfather of black independent politics in Philadelphia."

"Although he was not the first African American to run for mayor, he was clearly the first viable candidate to do so," Moore said. Mr. Williams did it without the endorsement of the Democratic Party, "inspiring other black candidates to seek office without the party's backing."

Gov. Rendell called him "the father of independent African American politicians in Philadelphia."

"There were others elected before him," Rendell said, "but they were selected by the machine and they never challenged the establishment.

"Hardy would challenge the establishment at every drop of the hat. He took no prisoners, always said what he believed, and was a butt-kicker. If Hardy didn't like a policy and couldn't get it changed, boom, there were 300 people in the street demonstrating. You either did what Hardy wanted or it was all-out war."

When Rendell was in a five-man field for the Democratic mayoral nomination in 1991, he said, "Hardy legitimized my candidacy in the eyes of African American voters . . . I don't think I would have been mayor and then governor without his support."

Mr. Williams made two bids to become mayor of Philadelphia.

In 1971, he lost in the Democratic primary to former Police Commissioner Frank L. Rizzo, who would go on to serve two four-year terms. In February 1979, he withdrew from the Democratic primary, saying he did not want to divide the African American community and leaving that field to Charles W. Bowser, who lost to U.S. Rep William J. Green 3d, the next mayor.

Working on Mr. Williams' 1971 campaign were Jannie Brooks and Lucien Blackwell. The two would marry the next year and go on to become a small political dynasty in West Philadelphia: the late Lucien Blackwell rising as high as the U.S. House of Representatives before his death in 2003, and his wife serving on City Council.

Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell today recalled that year as a magical era in which Mr. Williams' promise of better things electrified a community.

"He was our leader," Blackwell said, excitement rising with her voice. "He brought hope, and he signified that all things are possible, and that we as a people could move forward."

She called Mr. Williams "the father of independent politics."

Blackwell said Williams' loyalists are everywhere, and they are loyal to him for life. "They're all over the place, and that's a good thing," she said. "That's how you know he was a great man and a great leader."

Mr. Williams was a state representative from 1971 to 1973 and from 1977 to 1982. He joined the state Senate the following year, and retired in 1998, when he practically handed the seat over to his son, Anthony H. Williams.

How he did so was a bit of Philly-style politics. Mr. Williams simply failed to meet a primary campaign filing deadline that March, leaving his son as the only candidate with enough signatures to get on the Democratic ballot. His son has held the seat ever since, and has become a political force in his own right.

"Hardy Williams indeed was a pioneer who has left a rich and lasting legacy," his son said in a statement. "I say this as a legislator, as a resident of Philadelphia, and a son whose heart is broken. Our family mourns this painful loss."

Mr. Williams' was a household name in the West Philadelphia that Mayor Nutter grew up in. Mr. Williams, Nutter said, set the stage for the "vast array" of independent candidates, not just African Americans.

"Hardy Williams opened a lot of doors for a lot of people," said Nutter, who, in the Williams tradition, won his party's nomination without party support.

W. Wilson Goode, Philadelphia's first African American mayor, said he credited Mr. Williams for the fact that today, the city's mayor, district attorney, police commissioner, and schools superintendent are African Americans.

"Clearly, 42 years after Hardy Williams lit that flame," Goode said, "it burns very brightly in this city . . . because of his leadership and what he started."

A generation of black leaders worked for Mr. Williams, many of them volunteers, forging their own political careers using his lessons.

"What made Hardy different from other individuals was, you felt his sincerity, you felt his passion," said State Rep. Kenyatta Johnson, "and I feel that's what drew people to him."

Johnson, 36, was in his 20s and looking for a mentor when he began working in Mr. Williams' district office. The state senator told him to keep the people's interests first - before politics, power, money, even friendship.

"If you put the people's needs first, you will be OK. If you work for the people, they'll decide if you should be elected or not," said Johnson, who defeated veteran legislator Harold James in the 2008 Democratic primary.

U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah (D., Phila.) said: "Hardy Williams was a great Philadelphian, a towering and pioneering leader in the fight for political empowerment. We served together in the state Senate, where I learned a lot from him. . . .

"His inspirational campaign helped open the doors for me for progressive, game-changing politics."

U.S. Rep. Bob Brady, the city's Democratic Party boss, said Mr. Williams "leaves a large legacy. He kicked open political doors, and by doing so he helped reshape the Philadelphia Democratic Party so that today it is a true reflection of our city's diversity."

Mr. Williams graduated from West Philadelphia High School in 1948, where he was a three-year star on its baseball, basketball, and football teams, before captaining the basketball and football teams in his senior year and being voted his class' best athlete. In a school that was then predominantly white, he was voted the most popular in his class.

He did not slow down at Pennsylvania State University, where in 1950 he became the first African American to play basketball, was in the top 20 of his 1952 graduating class, and was president of the Pi Lambda Sigma pre-law honorary society. After two years as an Air Force lieutenant, with service in South Korea, he returned to graduate from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

Besides his son, he is survived by another son, Clifford; daughters Lisa Smith and Lanna Watkins-Minor; five brothers; and four grandchildren. He is also survived by his former wife, Carole Williams-Green.

Funeral arrangements are pending.