Henry E. Nichols

Henry E. Nichols Lawyer, Realtor, Banker, Real Estate Columnist and FBI Counter Intelligence Officer Henry E. Nichols a well known lawyer, banker, realtor and syndicated real estate columnist, who also spent (since 1967) 40 years as an undercover FBI counterintelligence officer passed away peacefully on 7/20/12, he was 88years old. Mr. Nichols, a fifth generation New Yorker, started his career in 1948 as a law clerk for the prestigious Wall Street law firm of Wellman and Smyth. But after one year he grew tired of the tensions of New York and decided to move to Washington D.C. In 1949 he was admitted to practice before the US Court of Appeals and in 1950 to the US Supreme Court. He branched out into real estate that same year and soon became active in the Washington Board of Realtors. In the late fifties and early sixties he played a dominant role in abolishing the "white only" policy of the board. In 1970 he was elected President of the Washington Board of Realtors. His first act was to name Flaxie M. Pinkett, who was president of the John R. Pinkett Company, an African-American real estate firm, to his board of directors. 1970 was a tumultuous year for the real estate industry following the riots of 1968. A dynamic speaker, Mr. Nichols' photograph appeared on the cover of The Washington Star on May 22, 1970 when he led a march of 800 realtors who were opposed to the City Council's proposed move to introduce rent control to Washington. His march was successful and rent control was delayed for 2 years. Mr. Nichols, who spoke Spanish, recognized that the rapidly growing Hispanic population needed help with their housing problems. In 1969 and 1970 he organized a series of free seminars, with Spanish speaking lectures held in the grand ballroom of the Washington Hilton Hotel. It elicited great praise in the press as well as from great praise in the press as well as from the Spanish speaking diplomatic corps. In 1970, the real estate industry honored him as Realtor of the Year. In 1981 he was honored again with the Martin Award for Distinguished Public Service. He was active in the National Association of Realtors and served as a member of the Realtors Washington Committee, its political arm. He represented the association as a delegate to the International Real Estate Federation in London in 1971. In 1977 the National Association of Realtors honored him by presenting its Omega Tau Rho Medallion for distinguished public service. He contributed a chapter to the Federal National Mortgage Associations book, "The Fannie Mae Guide to Buying, Financing, and Selling Your Home". In 1971, he started his banking career, when he was invited to become a director of the Home Building Association, at the time the second oldest savings and loan Association, in the District founded in 1888, which was suffering from slow growth, In three years Mr. Nichols tripled its assets, changed the name to Hamilton Federal Savings and Loan association of which he became Chairman of the Board, a position held until October 1990. He was also president of Century Financial Corporation, a subsidiary which specialized in making loans to low income families. In the 1966 he was invited by The Washington Star newspaper to present his column "You and Your Real Estate" which received national recognition when it was published each week for 15years and syndicated in 32 jurisdictions throughout the country. In all he published 2773 articles on a wide variety of real estate subjects. His last column appeared in the Star in its final day of publication August 7, 1981. Mr. Nichols was a former director of the Columbia Real Estate Title Insurance Company, the District Realty Title Insurance Company, the Greater Metropolitan Washington Board of Trade and the North American Hospital Technology Company. In 1967 he served on Mayor Walter Washington's Ad Hoc committee on Housing Code Problems and was appointed a commissioner on Housing Code problems and was appointed a commissioner of Landlord Tenant Affairs by the City Council. That same year President Lyndon Johnson named him a delegate to this Conference on Law and Poverty. In 1970 he was named Vice Chairman of the Area's Realtors Council. For years he served as a director of The Harker Preparatory School and the Landon School for Boys and served on the executive committee of the Father Walter E. Schmitz Memorial Fund at Catholic University. He was also a director of the International Real Estate Federation and the Washington Savings and Loan League. He was also a member in the Yale Club, The Cosmos Club, Rolls Royce, Antique Auto and St. Elmo Clubs. Considered a child prodigy on the piano, Mr. Nichols started piano lessons at the age of 4. When he was 11 he made his debut at New York's Town Hall. Unfortunately, his piano career came to a sudden halt when he was in a bicycle accident that left him without the tips of two fingers on his right hand. When he was 16 and World War II was in its early stage, he entered Yale University. At the age of 18 he was half through his senior year when Army recruiters came onto the campus, promising no "call ups" until graduation for all those who signed up. Well, he and 387 of his classmates signed up. At the age of 18 he was one of the youngest Second Lieutenants in what was then called the Army Air Corps. In 1946 he was promoted to First Lieutenant. He was 20 years old when he made Captain. His first task was to go back to Yale to finish his last semester. The very next day after graduating, he left for the University of Virginia Law School. Like so many veterans he sought to make up for "lost time" while in the military by accelerating his education. He completed his 3 years legal education in 2 years. Mr. Nichols best kept secret was his involvement with the FBI, starting in 1967 in various capacities both counter intelligence and intelligence support operations. Only a handful of people knew of his involvement with the FBI. On March 23, 1987 he was cited for his contributions to the intelligence community in a quiet ceremony in the Department of Justice. Attorney General Edwin Meese and Judge William H. Webster, Director of the FBI, presented him with the Attorney General's Award for Distinguished Public Service, an honor given only to a few Americans each year. Throughout his life Mr. Nichols considered this his greatest achievement, the equivalent of the Congressional Medal of Honor. Henry Nichols was a tall imposing man known for his erect posture and athletic physique. He started weight lifting as a teenager, long before the current interest in body building but would never enter a competition though his friends used to urge him…"Come on Henry, become Mr. DC'. Instead he became chief judge for the District from 1950 to 1965 at the Weightlifting and Physique contest. But he was also on call to be a judge at other non-local contests, including Mr. Universe, Mr. America and various state competitions. In 1950 He married Francis Griffin Morrison. She died in 1978. His son, Dr. Clyde W, Nichols died in 2005. He is survived by two grandchildren and his devoted and loving wife, Mary Ann Nichols whom he married in 1987.