Making a name

The Clarence H. "Du" Burns arena is in the Canton section of Baltimore. Kids play indoor soccer there; the Baltimore Blast soccer team had their games there before moving to Towson University, the Baltimore Bombers were an indoor lacrosse team that played there, and the Charm City Roller Girls did their roller derby thing there in the past.

But many people don't remember Mr Burns, or Mayor Burns, properly. His was an interesting Baltimore story, if you have a minute to read it.

In the first place, his name was Clarence Burns. The "Du" was not a nobiliary particle, as in the Du Pont family, no.  Mr Burns got the nickname "Du" because he would do things for people, and when asked to do something, he would for sure do it.

That's a key to success, youngsters.

He was from Caroline Street in the inner city, and hustled his way past jobs selling newspapers and vegetables, making connections along the way that helped him get a City job - as the locker room attendant at Dunbar High School.

All along, he remained active in civic events and politics, become a trusted ally of Mayor Thomas D'Alesandro, Jr, and a trusted ward heeler who would surely turn out the votes in his precinct.

Dunbar High was built on the land where Burns's childhood home stood, and for 22 years, as he laundered towels and kept the locker room straight, he built friendships and connections that led to the formation of his Eastside Democratic Organization.

He ran for City Council in 1971, and was elected, serving until he ran for Council President in 1986, and won again. That put him in line to become mayor when Wm. Donald Schaefer swapped his desk in the mayor's office for that of governor of Maryland.

That elevated Burns to being the first black mayor of Baltimore, an honor he proudly wore, and even though he lost his bid for election in his own right to Kurt Schmoke, his legacy is such that the soccer arena is named for him, and young people seeking a career in public service would do well to remember his credo of public service above all.

"Du was a man who got his degree on the street. He wasn't a scholar. He wasn't an Oxford man. But he had such great common sense," Mr. Schaefer said upon Burns's passing in 2003. "He's the kind of guy who is rare in politics now.

He literally made a name for himself by doing good things.