Robert S. Wilkinson
*Robert S. Wilkinson was born on this date in 1865. He was a Black educator and administrator.
Robert Shaw Wilkinson was born to Charles and Lavinia A. Wilkinson in Charleston, South Carolina. He attended the Avery Normal Institute in Charleston. 1884, Wilkinson was appointed to West Point Military Academy but failed to pass the physical requirements.
Later that year, Wilkinson entered an Oberlin College preparatory program and graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1891. In 1904, he earned a Ph. D from Columbia University. In 1922, he earned a Doctor of Law from Allen University.
Wilkinson married Marion B. Wilkinson, a Black suffragist, community activist, and educator; they had four children together. Wilkinson taught at several post-secondary institutions. In 1891, he joined the Kentucky State University faculty, teaching Latin, Greek, and political science. In 1886, he was among the first faculty members to join South Carolina State University(SCSU), where he taught mathematics, physics, and chemistry. In 1911, SCSU's first president, Thomas E. Miller, retired, and Wilkinson became president.
As president, he instituted a building program in collaboration with Clemson University and Claflin College and created a State Teacher Summer School. He died of pneumonia in Orangeburg, South Carolina, on March 13, 1932. In 1938, Orangeburg's first Black high school was named after Wilkinson.
