Chairman Sterling A. Tucker Plays Tennis
A fascinating find in Lynne Bundesen’s Us: People of Washington, DC a Photostory
I was browsing through Second Story Books in DuPont this past weekend and came across this interesting coffee table photo collection in their DMV History Section — "Us: People of Washington, DC, a Photostory”. As I was looking through the book, there were portraits of high-level appointees and officials in the Federal Government, national political leaders accompanied by portraits of everyday residents. From the paperboy to the sanitation workers and even local political leaders.
I flipped through the book to see if there were any portraits of anyone prominent locally that I knew and then I saw the photo of Sterling A. Tucker, Chairman of the Council of the District of Columbia.
This photo most likely was taken between 1975 and 1976. By this time in Tucker’s life, he had already had served six years as Vice Chair of the federally appointed City Council since and was later elected to the City Council in 1974 following the passage of the Home Rule Act. What makes this photo different from the others of Tucker is how he is portrayed. Usually, he is wearing a suit and tie, sporting his signature overly-sized glasses, but here, he’s is more casual and relaxed — no suit, no glasses either. The viewer is presented with Tucker in a more private and leisurely setting.
What was also interesting about Bundesen’s collection was that each model’s signature accompanied their portrait. Followed by a description. The collection itself focuses on everyday life in post Civil Rights Era Washington and gives an interesting glimpse of the many lives of those who resided in this city, including Sterling Tucker’s.