Dorchester Illustration no. 2465 Charlotte Golar Richie
In our efforts to document the recent history of Dorchester, we hope to present biographies of some of Dorchester’s living personalities. We are calling this occasional series: Diverse Dorchester.
Biography of Charlotte Golar Richie
Written by Edward M. Cook, board member of the Dorchester Historical Society
Charlotte Golar Richie is a distinguished member of the Dorchester community and leader in city and state government: as a journalist, state representative, Chief of Housing for Boston, neighborhood development director, candidate for Mayor of Boston, advisor to Governor Deval Patrick, member of the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination. Her contributions to the city and state are unique and historic.
Charlotte was born December 11, 1958 in Brooklyn, New York. Charlotte and her sister (Katherine Golar, MD)were the daughters of Simeon and Pauline Golar. Her mother was a teacher and housing manager, and her father rose from humble beginnings to become a lawyer, judge, civil rights leader, and the first Chairman of New York City’s Housing Authority who grew up in public housing (https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/14/nyregion/simeon-golar-who-fought-for-public-housing-dies-at-84.html). Her parents both believed strongly in the value of education and her dad’s leadership in affordable housing and civil rights, no doubt, influenced her career.
Following her graduation from Rutgers University, Charlotte spent two years as a volunteer secondary school teacher in the U.S. Peace Corps; the experience spurred interests in journalism and public service. She also met her future husband, Winston Richie, another volunteer,who taught Swahili and provided cross cultural training to her group of volunteers headed to Kenya.After the Peace Corps, Charlotte earned a master’s degree from Columbia University School of Journalism.
Charlotte was elected three times to represent the Fifth Suffolk District in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, where she served with distinction from 1995 until she resigned in 1999 to become the City of Boston’s Chief of Housing and Director of the Department of Neighborhood Development (DND). As a State Representative, Richie sponsored and gained passage of a $296 million housing bond bill to develop low-cost housing. As a freshman legislator, she was elected Vice Chair of Boston’s Legislative Delegation.and House Chair of the Housing and Urban Development Committee, the first time in three decades that a House freshman won a committee leadership position. At DND, she oversaw a citywide affordable housing campaign and the construction and renovation of thousands of housing units, and also, the award-winning Main Streets program.
Richie’s appointment to the position of Chief of Housing and Director of the Department of Neighborhood Development coincided with Mayor Thomas Menino‘s decision to elevate the post to a cabinet position. She remained with DND until 2007 when she became Governor Deval Patrick‘s senior advisor for federal, state and community affairs. In 2009, she left the Patrick administration to become the executive director of the Governor’s political committee, helping to lay the groundwork for his successful reelection campaign.
Throughout her career, Charlotte has been involved in political activism, and she has cared deeply about community service. In 2010, shortly after the devasting earthquake in Haiti, Charlotte joined a group of civic leaders who delivered tents and supplies to hard-hit areas. She later joined the Haiti Fund, which provided resources to nonprofits serving Haitian communities in need.
As a candidate for Mayor of Boston in 2013, in the city’s first election in 20 years without incumbent Mayor Thomas Menino on the ballot, Charlotte landed a third-place finish in a field of 12 candidates running in the Preliminary Election. In 2014 she was appointed a commissioner with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, the state’s civil rights agency, where she handled hundreds of individual complaints of discrimination.
Charlotte is currently a Distinguished Public Service Fellow at the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. She serves on the boards of Tufts Health Plan, Tufts Health Plan Foundation, Massachusetts Women’s Political Caucus, and Boston’s Higher Ground, of which she is a founding board member and where she serves as Vice Chair. She is a board member of the national nonprofit, YouthBuild USA, which is the support center for 250 programs across the country, connecting young people to jobs and education. She also serves on the advisory boards of Mothers for Justice and Equality, Voter Choice Massachusetts and Children’s HealthWatch; and she is an active member of the Massachusetts Democratic State Committee, and an honorary member of the Ward 15 Democratic Committee,with which she has been affiliated for 26 years.
Charlotte and Winston are the parents of two grown daughters, Leigh and Kara, who grew up in Meetinghouse Hill and were educated in the Boston Public Schools.