[6] As a child, Hobson worked at a public library, where he could clean the floors, but he was not allowed to borrow books.
[6] He read a lot of books about abolitionist John Brown, who he said was the greatest and most under-appreciated American in history.
[6] Hobson later joined a local civic association, where he marched the streets of Downtown, Washington, D.C., with signs encouraging shoppers to boycott stores that would not hire black employees.
[3] The group helped desegregate restaurants in Maryland and Delaware, ended discrimination in public housing in the District of Columbia and forced private businesses to open employment to black people.
[8] The court ruled in his favor, banning discrimination in the District of Columbia Public Schools and stopping its overly rigid system of grouping students by ability on June 19, 1967.
[9] He decided to run again for a seat representing Ward 2 the next year, but he lost the race to Evie Mae Washington.
[10] In 1969,[6] Hobson founded the Washington Institute for Quality Education, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending discrimination in schools.
[11] 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.
[12] 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.
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."
[3] Carol filed for divorce in 1966, citing religious differences and that Hobson occasionally prioritized activism over the needs of his family.
[3] Tina was originally from Anaheim, California, a graduate of Stanford University,[4] and an employee at the National Institute for Public Affairs.
[3][4] Some local activists criticized Hobson for having a relationship with Tina, saying he "talked black but dated white.
"[3] After experiencing persistent back pain, Hobson was diagnosed with a form of cancer of the spine called multiple myeloma In 1971.
[3] At the time of his death, his son, Julius Hobson Jr., was a member of the District of Columbia Board of Education.
[16] 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.