HELENA, Mont. -- Since achieving statehood in 1889, Montana has been home to hundreds of mayors. But Helena's Wilmot Collins stands alone as the first and only African American mayor in the history of the state.
Collins' journey from being a homeless wanderer in Liberia to sitting behind the mayor's desk in Helena was not an easy one. In 1994, Collins came to Montana as a refugee after years of war and unrest that tore apart his home country.
"I'm not kidding you, things were so bad in Liberia, we would see people walking down the streets, dying of starvation, or dying of stray bullets," Collins said. "It was terrible."
It was actually his wife, a former Montana exchange student and prospective Carroll College scholar, who got the idea to head stateside.
Collins got his start in Helena as a teacher before spending years with the National Guard and Navy Reserve. Politics weren't even on his mind until son told him to run for mayor.
"He said, 'Why don't you get into politics?'" Collins said. "I said, 'Whoa, keep me out of that. I don't know anything about politics. I'm not going to get involved with that.'"
But Collins took his son's advice, ran a campaign in 2017, and won the election, becoming the very first African American mayor in the state of Montana--though Collins didn't even know it.
"I called my son and said, 'Did we just make history?'" Collins said. "He said, 'Yeah, dad.' I said, 'What history did we make?' He said, 'Dad, you're the first African American mayor in Montana's history.'"
And in his first term as mayor, Collins is proud of accomplishments that platform ran on, such as funding the fire department and providing affordable housing opportunities. But he also knows there's more work to do. As a role model for future generations, his philosophy is that being being the state's first Black mayor is no reason to rest on your laurels.
"Don't let that historical aspect get to your head," Collins said. "Go do the job, or they'll kick you out. The hype of the historical aspect is over with. You've got to work. You've got to deliver."
