Douglas Wilder
66th Governor of Virginia
In office January 14, 1990 – January 15, 1994
Lieutenant	Don Beyer
Preceded by	Gerald L. Baliles
Succeeded by	George F. Allen
78th Mayor of Richmond
In office January 2, 2005 – January 1, 2009
Preceded by	Rudolph McCollum Jr.
Succeeded by	Dwight Clinton Jones
35th Lieutenant Governor of Virginia
In office January 18, 1986 – January 14, 1990
Governor	Gerald L. Baliles
Preceded by	Dick Davis
Succeeded by	Don Beyer
Personal details
Born	Lawrence Douglas Wilder (1931-01-17) January 17, 1931 (age 81) Richmond, Virginia
Political party	Democratic
Other political affiliations	Independent
Spouse(s)	Eunice Montgomery (div.)
Residence	Richmond, Virginia
Alma mater	Virginia Union University Howard University
Religion	Baptist
Military service
Service/branch	United States Army
Years of service	1951-1953
Rank	Sergeant
Battles/wars	Korean War
Awards	Bronze Star Medal

Lawrence Douglas Wilder (born January 17, 1931) is the first African American to be elected as governor of Virginia and first African-American governor of any state since Reconstruction.^[1] Wilder served as the 66th Governor of Virginia from 1990 to 1994. When earlier elected as Lieutenant Governor, he was the first African American elected to statewide office in Virginia. His most recent political office was Mayor of Richmond, Virginia, which he held from 2005 to 2009.

Early life and career[link]

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Wilder was born in Richmond, the seventh of eight children of Robert and Beulah (Richards) Wilder. The grandson of American slaves, he was named after the poet Paul Laurence Dunbar and the abolitionist Frederick Douglass.^[2] He attended George Mason Elementary School and Armstrong High School, then racially segregated. He did his undergraduate work at Virginia Union University, where he graduated with a degree in chemistry in 1951. Wilder is a prominent life member of Omega Psi Phi fraternity.

Wilder served in the Korean War, earning a Bronze Star for heroism at Pork Chop Hill. He rose to leadership in his first experience in an integrated organization, as President Truman had desegregated the military in 1948. After his service, Wilder earned a law degree at Howard University School of Law under the G.I. Bill. Virginia university law schools did not then admit African Americans. He graduated in 1959 and returned to Richmond to co-found the law firm of Wilder, Gregory, and Associates.

Marriage and family[link]

On October 11, 1958, Wilder married Eunice Montgomery. They had three children together: Loren, Lynn, and Lawrence Douglas, Jr. They were divorced in 1978.

Political career[link]

Douglas Wilder began her is career in public office after winning a 1969 special election to the Senate of Virginia from a Richmond-area district. He was the first African American elected as state Senator in Virginia since Reconstruction. A 1970 redistricting gave Wilder a predominantly African-American district, and a liberal in a conservative legislature, he worked hard and gained influence through committee chairmanships when he gained seniority.^{[citation needed]}

In 1985, still holding office in the state Senate, Wilder was narrowly elected the 35th Lieutenant Governor of Virginia on a Democratic ticket under then-Attorney General Gerald L. Baliles. Baliles was also from Richmond. Wilder was the first African American to win a statewide election in Virginia. aware that he needed to reach the swath of the state's majority white electorate, Wilder had undertaken a two-month "back roads" campaign tour of the state, visiting Virginia's predominantly rural central and western regions and enhancing his name recognition across the state's demographic expanse.

Governor of Virginia[link]

Wilder was elected governor on November 8, 1989, defeating Republican Marshall Coleman by a spread of less than half a percent. The narrow victory margin prompted a recount, which reaffirmed Wilder's election. He was sworn in on January 13, 1990 by former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Lewis F. Powell, Jr.. In recognition of his landmark achievement as the first African American elected governor in the nation, the NAACP awarded Wilder the Spingarn Medal for 1990.

Wilder had a comfortable lead in the last polls before the election. The unexpected closeness of the election may have been due to the Republicans' strong "get out the vote" efforts. Wilder had been candid about his "pro-choice" position in relation to abortion. Some observers believed the close election was due to what is known as the "Bradley effect"; they suggested that white voters were more likely to tell pollsters that they would support non-white candidates in given contests than to actually cast their votes for them.

During his tenure as governor, Wilder worked on crime and gun control initiatives. He also worked to fund Virginia's transportation initiatives, effectively lobbying Congress to reallocate highway monies to those states with the greatest needs.^[3] Much residential and office development had taken place in Northern Virginia without the state's receiving sufficient federal money for infrastructure improvements to keep up. He also succeeded in passing state bond issues to support improving transportation. In May 1990 Wilder ordered state agencies and universities to divest themselves of any investments in South Africa because of its then policy of apartheid, making Virginia the first Southern state to take such action.

During his term, Wilder carried out Virginia's law on capital punishment: 14 executions by the electric chair, including the controversial case of Roger Keith Coleman.

During his term, Wilder had strained relations with United States Senator and former Governor Charles Robb that many papers described as a "feud."^[4][5]

Wilder left office in 1994 because of Virginia's prohibition of successive gubernatorial terms. The next governor elected was Republican George Allen.

Policies[link]

Since the 1970s Wilder has supported the death penalty. He generally ran on "anti-crime" platforms. In response to a waning budget balance due to state economic problems, Wilder supported some of the most dramatic cuts in the United States vin allocations for higher education.

In the mid-1990s Wilder was scrutinized for his attacks on fellow Democrat Chuck Robb and support of Republican Mark Earley. Wilder declared himself a candidate for President in 1992, but withdrew before primary season had ended. He briefly ran for the U.S. Senate as an independent in 1994.

Mayor of Richmond[link]

On May 30, 2004, Wilder announced his intention to run for Mayor of Richmond. Until recently, the Richmond City Council chose the mayor from among its 9 members. The move to change this policy succeeded in November 2003 when voters approved a mayor-at-large referendum, with roughly 80 percent voting in favor of the measure. Wilder was a leading proponent of the mayor-at-large proposal.

On November 2, 2004, Wilder received 79% of the vote (55,319 votes) to become the first directly elected Mayor of Richmond in sixty years. Upon winning the election, Wilder communicated his intentions to take on corruption in the city government. He issued several ultimatums to the sitting City Council before he took office. He was sworn in on January 2, 2005.

He is a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition,^[6] a bi-partisan group with a stated goal of "making the public safer by getting illegal guns off the streets." The Coalition is co-chaired by Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

On May 16, 2008 Wilder announced that he would not seek reelection to another four-year term as mayor.

Post-political career[link]

Wilder has continued as an adjunct professor in public policy at Virginia Commonwealth University. He writes occasional editorials for Virginia newspapers.

Douglas Wilder is the founder of the United States National Slavery Museum, a non-profit organization based in Fredericksburg, Virginia. The museum has been fundraising and campaigning since 2001 to establish a national museum on slavery in America. In June 2008 L. Douglas Wilder requested that the museum be granted tax exempt status, which was denied.^[7] From that time, taxes on the land had not been paid and the property was at risk of being sold at auction by the city of Fredericksburg.^[8]

Beset by financial problems the museum has been assesed delinquent property taxes for the years 2009, 2010, and 2011 amounting to just over $215,000.^[9] The organization filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection on September 22, 2011. Early in 2011 Douglas Wilder was refusing to respond to or answer any questions from either news reporters or patrons who had donated artifacts.^[10]

Honors and awards[link]

• In 2004, Virginia Commonwealth University named its School of Government and Public Affairs in honor of L. Douglas Wilder. Wilder serves as an adjunct faculty member at the school.
• The Virginia Union University library, Norfolk State University's performing arts center, and a Hampton University dormitory are also named after Governor Wilder.
• Wilder also received an Honorary Doctorate from Arizona State University in 2004.
• Virginia State University named its Cooperative Extension Building the L. Douglas Wilder Building - http://www.vsu.edu/pages/2961.asp

Notes[link]

Further reading[link]

• Dwayne Yancey, When Hell Froze Over (1988, updated 1990)
• Don Baker, Wilder: Hold Fast to Dreams (1989)
• Margaret Edds, Claiming the Dream (1990)

External links[link]

• L. Douglas Wilder's oral history video excerpts at The National Visionary Leadership Project

v t e Lieutenant Governors of Virginia Leake McComas Jackson Montague S Price Cowper Lewis Marye Withers Thomas Walker Lewis Massey Tyler Kent Echols Willard Ellyson Buchanan West J Price Holt Tuck Collins Stephens Godwin Pollard Reynolds Howell Dalton Robb Davis Wilder Beyer Hager Kaine Bolling

v t e Governors of Virginia Henry Jefferson Fleming Nelson Harrison Henry E. Randolph B. Randolph H. Lee Brooke Wood Monroe Page Cabell Tyler Sr. G. Smith Monroe G. Smith P. Randolph Barbour Nicholas Preston T. Randolph Pleasants Tyler Jr. Giles J. Floyd Tazewell Robertson Campbell Gilmer Patton Rutherfoord Gregory McDowell W. "EB" Smith J.B. Floyd Johnson Wise Letcher W. "EB" Smith Pierpont Wells Walker Kemper Holliday Cameron F. Lee McKinney O'Ferrall J.H. Tyler Montague Swanson Mann Stuart Davis Trinkle Byrd Pollard Peery Price Darden Tuck Battle Stanley Almond A. Harrison Godwin Holton Godwin Dalton Robb Baliles Wilder Allen Gilmore Warner Kaine McDonnell

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (July 2008)

Julian Bond
Julian Bond in 2005.
Member of the Georgia House of Representatives from the 32nd district
In office 1967–1974
Succeeded by	Mildred Glover[1]
Member of the Georgia Senate from the 39th district
In office 1975–1987
Preceded by	Horace T. Ward[2]
Succeeded by	Hildred W. Shumake[3]
Personal details
Born	Horace Julian Bond (1940-01-14) January 14, 1940 (age 72) Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	(1) Alice Clopton (1961–1989, divorced) (2)Pamela S. Horowitz (1990–present)
Alma mater	George School Morehouse College (BA, English, 1971)

Horace Julian Bond (born January 14, 1940), known as Julian Bond, is an American social activist and leader in the American civil rights movement, politician, professor, and writer. While a student at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, during the early 1960s, he helped to establish the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). He was the first president of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Bond was elected to four terms in the Georgia House of Representatives and later to six terms in the Georgia Senate, having served a combined twenty years in both legislative chambers. From 1998 to 2010, he was chairman of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Early life and education[link]

Bond was born in Nashville, Tennessee, to the former Julia Agnes Washington and Horace Mann Bond. The family moved to Pennsylvania when Julian was five because his father was selected as the first African-American president of Lincoln University, also his father's alma mater. In 1957, Bond graduated from George School, a private Quaker preparatory boarding school near Newtown in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

In 1957, Bond attended Morehouse College, a historically black college in Atlanta. While there, he earned a varsity letter for swimming. He also helped found a literary magazine called The Pegasus. Bond worked as an intern at Time magazine. He was also a member of the only class taught by the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr Ph.D.TogetherinParis (talk) 07:55, 22 May 2012 (UTC)

In 1960, Bond was a founding member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and served as its communications director from 1961 to 1966. From 1960 to 1963, he led student protests against segregation in public facilities in Georgia.

Bond left Morehouse in 1961 and returned to complete his BA in English in 1971 at age 31. With Morris Dees, Bond helped found the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a public-interest law firm based in Montgomery, Alabama. He served as its president from 1971 to 1979. Bond continues on the board of directors of the SPLC.

Career[link]

In 1965, Bond was one of eight African Americans elected to the Georgia House of Representatives after passage of civil rights legislation, including the Voting Rights Act of 1965. On January 10, 1966, however, Georgia state representatives voted 184-12 not to seat him because he publicly endorsed SNCC's policy regarding opposition to U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. They disliked Bond's stated sympathy for persons who were "unwilling to respond to a military draft".^[4] A federal District Court panel ruled 2-1 that the Georgia House had not violated any of Bond's federal constitutional rights. In 1966, the United States Supreme Court ruled 9-0 in the case of Bond v. Floyd (385 U.S. 116) that the Georgia House of Representatives had denied Bond his freedom of speech and was required to seat him. From 1967 to 1975, Bond was elected for four terms as a Democratic member in the Georgia House. There he organized the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus.

In January 1967, Bond was among eleven House members who refused to vote when the legislature elected segregationist Lester Maddox of Atlanta as governor of Georgia over the Republican Howard Callaway, who had led in the 1966 general election by some three thousand votes. The choice fell on state lawmakers under the Georgia Constitution of 1824 because neither major party candidate had polled a majority in the general election. Former Governor Ellis Arnall polled more than fifty thousad votes as a write-in cadidate, a factor which led to the impasse. Bond would not support either Maddox or Callaway though he was ordered to vote by lame duck Lieutenant Governor Peter Zack Geer.^[5]

Throughout his House career, Bond's district was repeatedly altered:

• 1967–1969: 136th^[6]
• 1969–1973: 111th^[7]
• 1973–1974: 32nd^[8]

He went on to be elected for six terms in the Georgia Senate in which he served from 1975 to 1987.

During the 1968 presidential election, Bond led an alternate delegation from Georgia to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. There, unexpectedly and contrary to his intention, he became the first African American to be proposed as a major-party candidate for Vice President of the United States. While expressing gratitude for the honor, the 28-year-old Bond quickly declined, citing the constitutional requirement that one must be at least 35 years of age to serve in that office.

Bond resigned from the Georgia Senate in 1987 to run for the United States House of Representatives from Georgia's 5th congressional district. He lost the Democratic nomination in a runoff to rival civil rights leader John Lewis in a bitter contest, in which Bond was accused of using cocaine and other drugs.^[9] As the 5th district had a huge Democratic majority, the nomination delivered the seat to Lewis, who still serves as congressman.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Bond taught at several universities in major cities of the North and South, including American, Drexel, Harvard, and the University of Virginia.

In 1998, Bond was selected as chairman of the NAACP. In November 2008, he announced that he would not seek another term as chairman.^[10] Bond agreed to stay on in the position through 2009 as the organization celebrated its 100th anniversary. Roslyn M. Brock was chosen as Bond's successor on February 20, 2010.^[11]

He continues to write and lecture about the history of the civil rights movement and the condition of African Americans and the poor. He is President Emeritus of the Southern Poverty Law Center.

From 1980 to 1997 he hosted America's Black Forum. He remains a commentator for the Forum, for radio's Byline, and for NBC's The Today Show. He authored the nationally syndicated newspaper column Viewpoint. He narrated the critically acclaimed PBS series Eyes on the Prize in 1987 and 1990.

Bond has been an outspoken supporter of the rights of gays and lesbians. He has publicly stated his support for same-sex marriage. Most notably he boycotted the funeral services for Coretta Scott King on the grounds that the King children had chosen an anti-gay megachurch. This was in contradiction to their mother's longstanding support for the rights of gay and lesbian people.^[12] In a 2005 speech in Richmond, VA, Bond stated:

African Americans ... were the only Americans who were enslaved for two centuries, but we were far from the only Americans suffering discrimination then and now. ... Sexual disposition parallels race. I was born this way. I have no choice. I wouldn’t change it if I could. Sexuality is unchangeable.^[13]

In a 2007 speech on the Martin Luther King Day Celebration at Clayton State University in Morrow, GA, Bond said, "If you don't like gay marriage, don't get gay married." His positions have pitted elements of the NAACP against religious groups in the Black Civil Rights movement who oppose gay marriage mostly within the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) who was blamed partly for the success of the recent gay marriage ban amendment in California.^{[citation needed]}

Today, Bond is a Distinguished Professor in Residence at American University in Washington, D.C. He also is a faculty member in the history department at the University of Virginia at Charlottesville, where he teaches history of the Civil Rights Movement.^[14]

In January 2007, he delivered the annual Martin Luther King lecture at Siena College.

Personal life[link]

On July 28, 1961, Bond married Alice Clopton, a student at Spelman College. They divorced on November 10, 1989. They had five children: Phyllis Jane Bond-McMillan, Horace Mann Bond II, Michael Julian Bond, (an At-large member of Atlanta’s Council), Jeffrey Alvin Bond and Julia "Cookie" Louise Bond. He married Pamela S. Horowitz, an attorney, on March 17, 1990.

Legacy and honors[link]

• 2002 - National Freedom Award
• In 1999, an honorary LL.D. from Bates College.
• In 2008, an honorary degree from George Washington University. Bond was the 2008 Commencement Keynote Speaker.^[15]
• On October 1, 2009, an honorary L.H.D. from Macalester College.

The above four are among 25 honorary degrees which he has been awarded.

Eyes on the Prize[link]

Bond was the narrator of the PBS video, Eyes on the Prize, recounting the civil rights controversies of the 1950s and 1960s.

Controversial comments[link]

As NAACP chairman, Bond strongly criticized the Republican Party. WorldNetDaily, a conservative Internet-based news service, which inaccurately reported Bond as saying: "[The Republicans'] idea of equal rights is the American flag and the Confederate swastika flying side-by-side." WorldNetDaily accused him of calling Secretary of State Rice and former Secretary Powell "tokens" and comparing the judicial nominees of President George W. Bush to the Taliban.^[16] His actual words were that the Republican Party uses them "as kinds of human shields against any criticism of their record on civil rights."^[17] The issue was resolved when the Fayetteville Observer reported on its review of the audio recordings of the speech.

Bond was a strong critic of the Bush administration from its assumption of office in 2001, in large part because Bond believed the administration was illegitimate. Twice that year, first in February to the NAACP board and then in July at that organization's national convention, he attacked the administration for selecting Cabinet secretaries "from the Taliban wing of American politics". Bond specifically targeted Attorney General John Ashcroft, who had opposed affirmative action, and Interior Secretary Gale Norton, who defended the Confederacy in a 1996 speech on states' rights. The selection of these two individuals, Bond said, "...whose devotion to the Confederacy is nearly canine in its uncritical affection", "appeased the wretched appetites of the extreme right wing". Then-House Majority Leader Dick Armey responded to Bond's statement with a letter accusing NAACP leaders of "racial McCarthyism."^[18]

In 2003 Bond was quoted in a New York Times article criticizing the names of public schools named for Confederate leaders by saying, "If it had been up to Robert E. Lee, these kids wouldn't be going to school as they are today. They can't help but wonder about honoring a man who wanted to keep them in servitude."

Media appearances[link]

During his tenure with the NAACP, Bond was frequently interviewed and appeared on numerous news shows. He also had a small appearance in the movie Ray (2004).

He hosted Saturday Night Live on April 9, 1977, becoming the first black political figure to host the show. The famous segment from this appearance is the "Black Perspective" skit with then-SNL cast member Garrett Morris. Bond explained perceptions of white and black IQ differences with the tongue-in-cheek "theory" that "light-skinned blacks are smarter than dark-skinned blacks."^[19]

On October 11, 2009 Julian appeared at the National Equality March in Washington, D.C. and spoke upon the rights of LGBT community which was aired live on C-SPAN.^[20][21]

Writings[link]

• Black Candidates: Southern Campaign Experiences. Atlanta: Voter Education Project, Southern Regional Council, 1969.
• A Time To Speak, A Time To Act: The Movement in Politics. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1972.
• Gonna Sit at the Welcome Table: A Documentary History of the Civil Rights Movement. (with Andrew Lewis). American Heritage, 1995.
• Lift Every Voice and Sing: A Celebration of the Negro National Anthem, 100 Years, 100 Voices. (with Sondra Kathryn Wilson, eds.) New York: Random House, 2000.
• Nationally syndicated column Viewpoint.
• Poems and articles have appeared in a national list of magazines and newspapers.
• Julian Bond's papers reside at the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library at the University of Virginia.

Further reading[link]

References[link]

1. ^ "Members of Georgia House of Representatives alphabetically arranged according to names, with districts and post offices for the term 1974-1975", Acts and resolutions of the General Assembly of the State of Georgia (Georgia Legislature) 1: p. 2019, 1974, http://metis.galib.uga.edu/ssp/cgi-bin/legis-idx.pl?sessionid=ae3209bc-778f764566-3062&type=backdiv&byte=357672973 
2. ^ "Members of the Senate of Georgia by Districts in Numberical Order and Post Offices for the Term 1973-1974", Acts and Resolutions of the General Assembly of the State of Georgia 1: p. 1671, 1973, http://metis.galib.uga.edu/ssp/cgi-bin/legis-idx.pl?sessionid=ae3209bc-778f764566-3062&type=backdiv&byte=347539990 
3. ^ "Members of Georgia House of Representatives for the term 1987-1988 by districts and addresses", Acts and resolutions of the General Assembly of the State of Georgia (Georgia Legislature): p. CLXXIV, http://metis.galib.uga.edu/ssp/cgi-bin/legis-idx.pl?sessionid=ae3209bc-778f764566-3062&type=backdiv&byte=480518459 
4. ^ The World Almanac 1967, pp. 54–55
5. ^ Billy Hathorn, "The Frustration of Opportunity: Georgia Republicans and the Election of 1966", Atlanta History: A Journal of Georgia and the South, XXXI (Winter 1987-1988), p. 47
6. ^ Acts and resolutions, 1967, 1968
7. ^ 1969-1970 house roster (page 1284)
8. ^ [1]
9. ^ Jet Magazine (Johnson Publishing Company) 72 (5): 54–55. 1987. 
10. ^ "Bond won't seek re-election as NAACP Chairman". International Herald Tribune. 2008-11-18. http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/11/18/america/NAACP-Bond.php. Retrieved 2008-11-20. 
11. ^ "NAACP chooses successor to Chairman Julian Bond". CNN. 2010-02-20. http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/02/20/naacp.leadership/index.html. Retrieved 2010-02-20. 
12. ^ Black Voices Q&A 09/25/06 http://www.blackvoices.com/black_news/canvas_directory_headlines_features/_a/bv-qanda-with-julian-bond/20060908115409990002
13. ^ "NAACP chair says ‘gay rights are civil rights’". Washington Blade. 2004-04-08. Archived from the original on March 21, 2006. http://web.archive.org/web/20060321202124/http://www.washblade.com/2005/4-8/news/localnews/naacp.cfm. Retrieved 2009-09-24. 
14. ^ http://www.american.edu/spa/faculty/hjb7g.cfm
15. ^ "NAACP chairman will speak at Commencement". The GW Hatchet. 2008-03-13. http://media.www.gwhatchet.com/media/storage/paper332/news/2008/03/13/News/Naacp.Chairman.Will.Speak.At.Commencement-3280172.shtml. Retrieved 2008-11-18. 
16. ^ WorldNetDaily: NAACP chairman compares GOP to Nazis
17. ^ http://www.fayettevillenc.com/article?id=225894^{[dead link]}
18. ^ Wickham, DeWayne (2001-07-16). "Julian Bond: Master needler" (Opinion). USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/columnists/wickham/2001-07-12-wickham.htm. Retrieved 2007-05-07. 
19. ^ "SNL Transcripts: Julian Bond / Tom Waits". http://snltranscripts.jt.org/76/76rblackperspective.phtml. Retrieved 2008-11-18. 
20. ^ Street vs. suite by Richard J. Rosendall. October 13, 2009. Bay Windows
21. ^ C-Span archive