Washington was the city's first African-American mayor and was born on April 15, 1922.
"People who had been oppressed for a long time saw in him there hopes and their dreams and they realized Harold hit the bell and it rang. He pulled us together, made us a better city, out of that came my campaign in '88 and Carol Mosely Braun in the senate, and Barack in '04 and '08, and we just kept flowing and we flowed from Harold Washington's stream really," said Rev. Jesse Jackson.
Rev. Jackson will be taking part in a parade and tribute to the late mayor Saturday. There will also be activities marking his birthday in and around Washington Park.