Wilhelmina Jackson Rolark (September 12, 1916 – February 14, 2006)[1][2] was a Democratic politician and activist in Washington, D.C. She was elected to represent Ward 8 on the Council of the District of Columbia in 1976 and served four terms.
She lost the Democratic primary to James Coates by fewer than 100 votes[1] and later announced that she would run a write-in campaign against him in the November election.
Rolark came back in 1976 (the first Ward 8 term after the council's creation was only two years) and defeated Coates in the primary.
In the fall of 1983, Councilmember Rolark's office organized a series of neighborhood meetings to give Anacostia residents an opportunity to review a preliminary version of the plan and work eventually began in October of 1984.
[8] In 1992, former mayor Marion Barry, recently released from prison, challenged Rolark in the Democratic primary and won in a 3-to-1 landslide.