Clarence Henry "Du" Burns (September 13, 1918 – January 12, 2003) was a

Democratic Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

politician and the first

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

mayor of

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, Maryland in 1987.

Early life

Burns was born in Baltimore on September 13, 1918. One of his first jobs was locker room attendant at Dunbar High School, one of the others being picking up newspapers. He got the nickname "Du" for what he would "do" for his community.

Career

Du Burns was first elected to the

Baltimore City Council The Baltimore City Council is the legislative branch that governs the City of Baltimore and its more than 600,000 citizens. It has 14 members elected by district and a president elected at-large; all serve four-year terms. The Council holds regu ...

in 1971. He was later elected City Council President in 1983, defeating

Mary Pat Clarke Mary Pat Clarke (born June 22, 1941) is an American politician who represented the 14th district in the Baltimore City Council. She served in Baltimore, Maryland politics as both council president and council member for 24 out of the last 35 ye ...

in the election. In January 1987, the then-Mayor

William Donald Schaefer William Donald Schaefer (November 2, 1921 – April 18, 2011) was an American politician who served in public office for 50 years at both the state and local level in Maryland. As a Democrat, he was the 45th mayor of Baltimore from December ...

resigned after being elected

Governor of Maryland The Governor of the State of Maryland is the head of government of Maryland, and is the commander-in-chief of the state's National Guard units. The Governor is the highest-ranking official in the state and has a broad range of appointive power ...

. As City Council president, Burns was elevated to mayor, becoming the first black mayor in the city's history. In the 1987 city elections, Burns ran for a full term but was defeated in the Democratic primary by

Kurt Schmoke Kurt Lidell Schmoke (born December 1, 1949) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 47th mayor of Baltimore, Maryland, from 1987 to 1999, the first African American to be elected to the post. He is the current president of the University ...

. He ran again in 1991, once more falling second to Schmoke for the primary. In 1991, a new arena on the waterfront near the neighborhood of

Canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ente ...

and Chestertown was named in Burns' honor. In 2014, the field received a renovation deal of 20 years, worth up to $1.5 million.

Personal life

Burns was Catholic, an active member of Historic St. Francis Xavier Church.

References

External links

* * 1918 births 2003 deaths United States Army soldiers United States Army personnel of World War II Baltimore City Council members Mayors of Baltimore African-American mayors in Maryland Maryland Democrats 20th-century American politicians African-American city council members in Maryland African-American Catholics 20th-century African-American politicians African-American men in politics 21st-century African-American people {{Maryland-mayor-stub