Walter Tobriner

Walter Tobriner. . , The 1935 Colonial on the northwest corner of 33rd and Rittenhouse Streets was the home of Walter Tobriner (1902-1979), who served as DC's last appointed mayor., Tobriner, a grandson of German-Jewish immigrants, attended Sidwell Friends School, Princeton University, and Harvard Law. Racial housing covenants in Chevy Chase DC barred Jews and Blacks. He worked against those covenants and joined the Lafayette School PTA and the Chevy Chase Citizens Association. In 1947 he worked with Joseph Rauh and other co-founders of Americans for Democratic Action., President Truman appointed him to the DC Board of Education in 1952 where he worked for racial integration, two years before the Supreme Court outlawed segregation. As president of the DC School Board, Tobriner was President Eisenhower's point man to create a country-wide model for school integration. In January 1961, President Kennedy chose him to chair the DC Board of Commissioners. After Kennedy's assassination, President Johnson re-appointed him., As president of the Board of Commissioners, Tobriner was a key agent between DC and Congress, and between the White House and the District government. He did this while the Great Migration of African Americans poured out of the South, transforming the demographics of many cities, including Washington., Tobriner accomplished much as President of the Board of Commissioners, including advocating for the right of DC residents to vote in the presidential elections, facilitating civil rights events such as the August 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, promoting local fair housing practices, and working as a proponent for the establishment of the University of the District of Columbia., [Captions:] , Commissioner Tobriner with Vice President Hubert Humphrey at a hearing in DC, Walter Tobriner, being sworn in as President of the DC Board of Commissioners, lived at 6100 - 33rd Street