Julius Hobson

Julius Wilson Hobson (May 29, 1922 – March 23, 1977) was an American activist and politician. He served on the Council of the District of Columbia and the District of Columbia Board of Education.

Early life Julius Wilson Hobson was born on May 29, 1922, in Birmingham, Alabama. He was the son of Irma (Gordon) and Julius Hobson. His mother was a schoolteacher and later a principal. He was awarded three bronze stars for his many piloting missions. The court ruled in his favor, banning discrimination in the District of Columbia Public Schools and stopping its system of grouping students by ability on June 19, 1967. He decided to run again for a seat representing Ward 2 the next year, but he lost the race to Evie Mae Washington.

In an effort to protest the employment discrimination practiced by Pepco, Hobson distributed stamps that were intended to be pasted on check payments sent to Pepco that would prevent Pepco's computers from processing the checks. He was later ordered by court to stop distributing the stamps. He lost to Democrat Walter E. Fauntroy. Hobson was elected in 1974 as one of the at-large members of the Council of the District of Columbia at its creation, and he served in that position until his death in 1977.

In a 1972 interview, Hobson said one contemporary he admired was Sterling Tucker, not because he agreed with him on everything, but because he was smart and cunning, worked with everyone, and had many political accomplishments. Spock and Hobson polled 0.1014% of the National popular vote, receiving no electoral votes.

FBI Informant In 1981, The Washington Post revealed that documents in the Federal Bureau of Investigation file on Hobson revealed that he had once provided information to the FBI about the black freedom movement. It reported that "there are 29 specific reports over a five-year period of Hobson giving information to agents contained in the massive 1,575-page file obtained by The Post through the Freedom assembled the file on Hobson over a nearly 20-year period from the 1950s to the early 1970s. The file indicates, among other things, that Hobson gave the FBI information on advanced planning for the historic March on Washington led by Martin Luther King Jr. in 1963 and was paid $100 to $300 in expenses to monitor and report on civil rights demonstration plans at the 1964 Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City. On another occasion, he reported on a 1965 meeting in Detroit involving a revolutionary black group and, on still another, he warned agents of possible violence at a Philadelphia demonstration that same year, according to the file."

The article also reported that FBI Agent Elmer Lee Todd "said he met regularly with Hobson — sometimes as often as twice a month — from about 1961 to late 1964, mostly to discuss and assess potentially violent or disruptive demonstrations, organizations and individuals in the civil rights movement." The article does not indicate that Hobson, who the FBI also monitored for his activism, provided information to the FBI after 1965.

In 1995, Cartha DeLoach, the third most senior official in the FBI, described Hobson as "a paid FBI informant" in his book, Hoover's FBI: The Inside Story by Hoover's Trusted Lieutenant.

Personal life While attending Howard University, Hobson met Carol Smith.

Death After experiencing persistent back pain, Hobson was diagnosed with a form of cancer of the spine called multiple myeloma In 1971.

Memorials In 1980, a group of co-operative apartment buildings at First and M streets and New York Avenue NW built in the 1930s were rehabilitated, renamed the Julius Hobson Plaza Condominiums, and sold as condos.

In 1979, the Edmonds School on Capitol Hill was closed, and the students and staff moved to Watkins Elementary School as the Region 4 Middle School. In 1981, the school was renamed the Julius W. Hobson Middle School. In 1986, schools in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington were reorganized, and Stuart Middle School was combined with Hobson to create Stuart-Hobson Middle School.

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