February 20, 2007
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Profile America for the 20th day of Black History Month. Douglas Wilder is used to being the first in a number of categories. He was the first African-American state senator in Virginia since reconstruction. Then, in 1985, he was elected lieutenant governor the first black elected to statewide executive office in the South in the 20th century. And in 1990, he was sworn in as governor of Virginia, the first African-American to be elected as chief executive of one of the states. Wilder is now serving as the mayor of Virginia's capital city of Richmond the first directly elected mayor in 60 years. Previously, the city council elected one of its nine members to that office. Across the U.S., there are just over 9,000 elected African-American officials. This special Profile America for Black History Month is a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.