When James Sills ran for mayor of Wilmington in the Democratic primary against Daniel Frawley in 1992, the odds were stacked against him. He was not the incumbent and, if elected – all but a done deal if he secured the primary win – he would be the first Black mayor in the city’s history.
But when election day came around, Sills won with 55% of the votes, according to reporting from The News Journal. And now, 30 years later, a statue of him has been unveiled in the corner of Brandywine Park.
“It is a fitting tribute to the power of (Sills’) example that will inspire generations of leaders to come,” President Joe Biden said in a letter read at the sculpture’s unveiling ceremony Saturday morning.
LOCAL POLITICS:Here’s what Wilmington council will get from $40,000 contract with former mayor
The process of getting the sculpture approved and funded was “tedious,” according to a press release from the Sills family. It was primarily led by Delaware Sen. Darrius Brown, who spoke at the event alongside other community leaders and elected officials, including U.S. Sen. Tom Carper, U.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt-Rochester, Gov. John Carney, church officials, university presidents and current Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki.
Sills’ work with the city gave young Black people in Wilmington “an identity” in the ’90s, Brown said. He encouraged kids to go to school and graduate, and helped pave the way toward college. Most importantly, Brown said, Sills gave young people “the opportunity to understand why (their) public service matters.”
In his speech Saturday, Sills emphasized the importance of Black leadership, particularly from those with college degrees. He referenced historian and activist W.E.B. Du Bois’ idea of the “talented tenth,” a select group of college-educated Black leaders capable of making real change.
FOR SUBSCRIBERS:How a local high school teacher became TikTok famous, and was written about in Rolling Stone
“I came to Wilmington in 1959 … wanting to come and try to help Wilmington to be a better place in which to live and to be a part of that talented tenth,” Sills said. “I hope I’ve contributed to that.”
Before his eight-year tenure as mayor, Sills served in the Delaware House of Representatives. He championed issues like police accountability and civil rights, and also taught at the University of Delaware.
“Everybody remembers the guy who cut the ribbon but they forget the guy who laid the foundation for all the growth that has happened in this city,” Purzycki said.
The new larger-than-life bronze statue of Sills took artist Jon Hair nine months to create. Hair, whose statue of local jazz legend Clifford Brown adorns Kirkwood Park in Wilmington’s Upper East Side, said he was approached by Sills’ family after the project was approved.
Hair said everything he learned about Sills “put him on a pedestal,” so he decided he would do the same – literally. The 8-foot-tall statue now stands at the corner of North Market Street and South Park Drive, at the entrance to the bridge already named in Sills’ honor.
Send story tips or ideas to Hannah Edelman at hedelman@delawareonline.com. For more reporting, follow them on Twitter at @h_edelman.
