On Friday, local government leaders were joined by community members at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center for the DC250 Full Democracy Luncheon.

While the official theme of the D.C. Emancipation Day event was “Democracy at 250 & Beyond: The District’s Story,” another theme emerged as speakers paid tribute to D.C.’s longtime congressional delegate, Eleanor Holmes Norton.

Attendees at the luncheon rose to their feet for a standing ovation as Mayor Muriel Bowser honored Norton, who will be leaving office at the end of her term in January 2027.

“Your service and your story are inseparable from the story of Washington, D.C.,” Bowser said. “Like some other of us, you are passing the baton. Eleanor, I want to say for 700,000 grateful Washingtonians, job well done.”

Bowser, who also will be leaving office, stepped off the stage and hugged Norton, the 18-term delegate, who leaned her head against the mayor as she was presented with a decorative bowl.

Speaker after speaker echoed the message of gratitude by saying “thank you, Eleanor,” including the keynote speaker the Rev. Shavon Arline-Bradley, president & CEO of the National Council of Negro Women.

“Eleanor Holmes Norton is a living legend,” Arline-Bradley said. “She started as a young lawyer, organizing on the ground to ensure that young black people were able to vote in the Deep South in Mississippi.”

Speaking with WTOP after her speech, Arline-Bradley said Norton “fought for women’s rights, for children’s rights, for families and to ensure jobs came to the city.”

Many speakers mentioned Norton’s early life, noting she will turn 89 in June and graduated in the last segregated class at Dunbar High School before earning her law degree from Yale University.

“I think Eleanor means a great deal. She is one of us,” said former D.C. Mayor Sharon Pratt. “Born here, reared here, and even as a young person got involved with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.”

Pratt, D.C.’s first female mayor, said she gives Norton “great credit and kudos,” for her work elevating D.C. statehood.

“We don’t have sovereignty. People can come along and interfere with our monies, our budget,” Pratt said.

Another one of Norton’s lasting legacies will be the “scholarship program that she has initiated.” she said.

Norton’s DC Tuition Assistance Grant (DCTAG) program has awarded more than $700 million to D.C. residents since it started in 2001.

“She’s brought that spirit of and fight to everything she’s done, particularly on trying to advance the interests of Washington, D.C. So they call her the ‘warrior on the Hill.’ She is all of that,” Pratt said.

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