H. (Harold) Abram Wilson (born 1946) is a Republican politician and a former mayor of

San Ramon, California San Ramon (Spanish: ''San Ramón'', meaning "St. Raymond") is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States, located within the San Ramon Valley, and east of San Francisco. San Ramon's population was 84,605 per the 2020 census, maki ...

Early life

Wilson was born in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

in 1946, the son of two educators. His great grandfather had been one of the first physicians in South Carolina. He also lived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as a child. Wilson attended

Central State University Central State University (CSU) is a public, historically black land-grant university in Wilberforce, Ohio. It is a member-school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. Established by the state legislature in 1887 as a two-year program for te ...

, where he was the president of his senior class. He spent his summers in San Francisco. While in college, he studied voice and has performed in professional chorus' and earned a BS in Biochemistry. A proud veteran, in 1969 he entered the United States Army. When he reported for duty in

Ft. Bragg Fort Bragg is a military installation of the United States Army in North Carolina, and is one of the largest military installations in the world by population, with around 54,000 military personnel. The military reservation is located within Cu ...

, his superiors asked him if he was a member of the

Black Panthers The Black Panther Party (BPP), originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was a Marxism-Leninism, Marxist-Leninist and Black Power movement, black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. New ...

, due to his having arrived from San Francisco. When he returned to civilian life, he worked as a federal funds trader at

Wells-Fargo Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California; operational headquarters in Manhattan; and managerial offices throughout the United States and inter ...

Family

H. Abram Wilson is married to Dr. Karen B. Wilson. He has 2 children, Natausha Wilson-Cruz and P. Nathan Wilson.

Political career

San Ramon City

Wilson was elected to the San Ramon City Council in November 1999, appointed mayor in 2002, and became the City of San Ramon’s first elected mayor in 2003. He was re-elected in 2005. Wilson was the 2005 recipient of the National Music Educator Association, State Legislator of the Year award "for his support of music education in the schools."

2008 California State Assembly campaign

Wilson unsuccessfully ran for State Assembly in 2008. He ran in California's 15th district against Democrat

Joan Buchanan Joan T. Buchanan (born October 4, 1952) is an American politician and former Democratic Party public official and former school board member from Alamo, California. She was a member of the California State Assembly from 2008 to 2014. Pre-poli ...

. Assembly District 15 includes areas of Contra Costa, Alameda, Sacramento, and San Joaquin counties. Buchanan won the election by 52% to 48

References

External links

Wilson's VoteSmart Bio Page

Wilson's Assembly Campaign Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, H. Abram Mayors of places in California Living people 1946 births Politicians from Charleston, South Carolina Central State University alumni People from San Ramon, California African-American mayors in California California Republicans 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people