John A. Wilson

John Augustus Wilson (September 29, 1943 – May 19, 1993) was an American politician. He served as the first Councilmember of the D.C. Council from the District of Columbia's Ward 2, as well as Chairman of the D.C. Council. The John A. Wilson Building, in the District of Columbia, is named after him.

Politician Raised by adoptive parents on the Eastern Shore, Wilson quit college to become an organizer and later national vice chairman for the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee. During a stint as a community organizer in New York City, he worked with Malcolm X, whom he bragged once called him "one of the funniest guys in the movement."

In the 1960s, Wilson was active in the civil rights movement, first with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and then with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). In 1969, Wilson moved to Washington, D.C. to become the legislative director for the National Sharecropper's Fund, an advocacy group for migrant farm workers. He helped run its Washington office for six years.

Academia During his council years, Wilson was a Harvard Fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government. He also attended the Senior Executive Program for State and Local Government at Harvard University.