Editing Douglas Wilder (section)

==Early life==
Wilder was born on January 17, 1931, in the segregated [[Church Hill, Richmond, Virginia|Church Hill]] neighborhood of Richmond.<ref>Jessie Carney Smith, [https://books.google.com/books?id=htmcmPqU6IsC&q=douglas+wilder+january+17,+1931+church+hill ''Notable Black American Men''], Book 1, 1998, page 1218</ref> He is the son of Beulah Olive (Richards) and Robert Judson Wilder.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/untoldgloryafric00gove <!-- quote="My father was Robert Judson Wilder. My mother was Beulah Olive Richards Wilder.". --> ''Untold Glory: African Americans in Pursuit of Freedom, Opportunity, and Achievement''], Harlem Moon/Broadway Books. 2007. p. 372.</ref> He is the grandson of slaves, his paternal grandparents having been enslaved in [[Goochland County, Virginia|Goochland County]].<ref>Donald P. Baker, [https://books.google.com/books?id=4i8TAAAAYAAJ&q=douglas+wilder+grandparents+slaves+goochland Wilder: ''Hold Fast to Dreams; A Biography of L. Douglas Wilder''], 1989, page 3</ref>  The seventh of eight brothers and sisters, Wilder was named for the African-American writers [[Paul Laurence Dunbar]] and [[Frederick Douglass]].<ref>Associated Press, ''Spokane Spokesman-Review,'' [https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=QB8SAAAAIBAJ&sjid=5-8DAAAAIBAJ&pg=4566,1389794&dq=douglas+wilder+paul+lawrence+frederick&hl=en "Virginia Gov. Wilder Running for President"], September 14, 1991.</ref>

Wilder's father sold insurance and his mother worked as a maid. While the family was never completely destitute, Wilder recalled his early years during the [[Great Depression]] as a childhood of "gentle poverty".<ref>Joe Taylor, Associated Press, [https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=FMMTAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_wYEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5812,323890&dq=douglas+wilder+gentle+poverty&hl=en "Wilder’s Roots in ‘Gentle Poverty’"], Ocala ''[[Star-Banner]]'', November 9, 1989.</ref>

Wilder worked his way through [[Virginia Union University]], a [[historically black university]], by waiting tables at hotels and shining shoes, graduating in 1951 with a degree in chemistry.<ref>Virginia Union University, [http://www.vuu.edu/library/archives_special_collections/the_wilder_collection.aspx ''The Wilder Collection:'' Biographical Information] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130424235906/http://vuu.edu/library/archives_special_collections/the_wilder_collection.aspx |date=April 24, 2013 }}, Retrieved October 5, 2013.</ref>

Drafted into the [[United States Army]] during the [[Korean War]], he volunteered for combat duty. At the [[Battle of Pork Chop Hill]], he and two other men found themselves cut off from their unit, but they bluffed nineteen [[Korean People's Army|North Korean soldiers]] into surrendering, for which Wilder was awarded the [[Bronze Star Medal]]. He was a [[Sergeant#United States|sergeant]] when he was discharged in 1953.<ref>Associated Press, Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star, [https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=LTQzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=2ggGAAAAIBAJ&pg=2560,7711716&dq=douglas+wilder+pork+chop+hill+bronze+star&hl=en Wilder: Former Governor Now a Candidate for Richmond Mayor], September 26, 2005.</ref>

Following the war, Wilder worked in the state medical examiner's office and pursued a master's degree in chemistry. In 1956 he changed his career plans and entered [[Howard University Law School]]. After graduating in 1959, he established a law practice in Richmond, the Virginia capital.<ref>[[CNN]].com, [http://edition.cnn.com/2005/US/02/21/cnn25.tan.wilder/ "Then & Now: Douglas Wilder"], June 19, 2005.</ref>

Wilder married Eunice Montgomery in 1958. The couple had three children before divorcing in 1978: Lynn Diana; [[Lawrence D. Wilder Jr.|Lawrence Douglas Jr.]]; and Loren Deane.<ref>B. Drummond Ayres, Jr., ''New York Times'', [https://www.nytimes.com/1989/11/08/nyregion/1989-elections-virginia-contest-man-lawrence-douglas-wilder-confrontation.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm "The 1989 Elections: The Virginia Contest; Man in the News; Lawrence Douglas Wilder; From Confrontation to Conciliation"], ''The New York Times'' November 8, 1989.</ref>