H. R. Crawford  Hazle Reid "H. R." Crawford (January 18, 1939 – February 10, 2017) was a real estate developer and former Democratic politician in Washington, D.C.. Crawford was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on January 18, 1939. His family moved to Sheridan-Kalorama, Washington, D.C., when he was three years old. After five years, the family moved to Near Northeast, Washington, D.C. His father worked for the federal government and also ran the rooming house in which he grew up, and his mother worked as a housekeeper for a wealthy white family. He has said that being exposed to his mother's employer's richer and more cultured lifestyle motivated him to succeed. Crawford graduated from Cardozo High School in 1957. He served in the United States Air Force from 1957-1965. He attended District of Columbia Teachers College and Howard University. In 1962, Crawford started working as the property manager of Anacostia Gardens Apartments in Fort Dupont. By 1965, he was managing the Congress Park Apartments in Congress Heights. He carried a gun to protect himself in Congress Heights. He quit the job when a perpetrator raped a 22-year-old woman on the property. Polinger Company hired Crawford to manage the newly built Park Southern apartment complex in Washington Highlands. In 1968, Crawford joined the board of directors of a construction and management firm, Polinger Company. In 1969, he was named vice president of the newly formed Polinger-Crawford Corporation. Crawford was awarded a Certified Property Manager designation by the Institute of Real Estate Management in 1969, becoming one of seven Certified Property Managers who is black. By 1970, he was a consultant for Urban Rehabilitation Corporation, chairman of Anacostia Citizens and Merchants, Inc., chairman of the Sixth District Police–Citizens Advisory Council, treasurer of Congress Heights Association for Service and Education, member of the Mayor's Juvenile Delinquency Committee, and a member of the board of trustees of the Junior Citizens Corporation. The Washington chapter of the Institute of Real Estate Management formed a Mayor's Advisory Committee, and it named Crawford a member of the committee. When the Council of the District of Columbia proposed regulations intended to address the severe housing crisis, Crawford was part of a task force to study the potential effect of the proposed regulations. Crawford received a Presidential commendation "in recognition of exceptional service to others" in 1970. In 1971, Crawford was involved in building a 400-unit residential complex in Shaw.