His grandparents were slaves in Virginia; he was the governor.
Lawrence Douglas Wilder (born January 17, 1931) was born in Virginia. He is the grandson of slaves. He was named in honor of poet Paul Laurence Dunbar and black icon Frederick Douglass.
He received a bachelors in chemistry from Virginia Union University, then went on to join the United States Army. He served in the Korean War where he earned a Bronze Star for heroism. After the war, he graduated from Howard University School of Law and started his own law firm.
In 1969, Wilder won a special election for the Virginia State Senate, becoming the first black person to win a seat in the Virginia State Senate since Reconstruction. In the years immediately following the U.S. Civil War, former Confederates were denied the right to vote, creating a surge of black politicians in the South. Once white Southerners regained their rights, they completely disenfranchised black Southerners and regained complete control of the region. For this reason, black “firsts” in politics are often counted post-Reconstruction. So, Douglas Wilder is effectively the first black person elected to the Virginia State Senate.
In 1985, Wilder was elected lieutenant-governor of Virginia. He was the first black person elected to statewide office in Virginia. In 1989, he was elected governor, becoming the first black person to hold the governorship of the state of Virginia. As governor, Wilder ordered the state to no longer invest in South Africa due to its apartheid policy.
After being term-limited as governor, Wilder served as mayor of Richmond, Virginia. He left politics after his term as mayor.
TL;DR
- Douglas Wilder, the grandson of slaves, became the first black state senator in Virginia.
- Then, he became the first black governor of Virginia.
- He was the first Southern governor to make a stand against South African apartheid.
What You Should Do Now:
- Read up on some interesting black “firsts”.
- Read about the other black governors of U.S. states (there haven’t been many).
28 Days of Inspirational Black People:
- Ed Brooke
- Blanche Bruce
- Andrew Young
- Denys Cowan
- Antoine Fuqua
- John Singleton
- Countee Cullen
- Dennis Kimetto
- Robert Hayden
- Lee Daniels
- Anthony Mackie/Falcon
- Val James
- Abebe Bikila
- Steve McQueen
- Ernest J. Gaines
- Charlie Sifford
- Matt Baker
- Black Panther
- A.G. Gaston
- Bradford Young
- Paul Laurence Dunbar
- Guion Bluford
- Carter G. Woodson
- Ralph Bunche
- William Monroe Trotter