On January 13, 1990, Lawrence Douglas Wilder was sworn in as the governor of Virginia by former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell. Wilder was the first African-American to be elected governor of a U.S. state. He would also serve as Mayor of Richmond, the state's capital city, from 2005 through 2009.



Learn more about the life and career of Douglas Wilder from the Virginia Historical Society.