James Solomon, Jr. - South Carolina African American History ...

James Solomon, Jr.James Lewis Solomon Jr. blazed the trail for future generations when he enrolled ingraduate school at the University of South Carolina in 1963, the first African Americanto do so since Reconstruction. And for Solomon, that was just the beginning.He became the first African American to serve in several key state governmentpositions under three governors, as a state agency director under Governor John West,Division Director at the Commission on Higher Education under Governor RichardRiley, and as Commissioner of the Department of Social Services under Riley andGovernor Carroll Campbell. Solomon drafted the South Carolina Desegregation Planfor Public Colleges and Universities during his service in the Riley administration thathas contributed to the successful recruitment of underrepresented students to theUniversity of South Carolina and other state colleges and universities.His significant public service earned him the Order of the Palmetto, awarded by bothGovernors Riley and Campbell. Solomon also received an Honorary Doctor of HumaneLetters from Morris College and Doctor of Laws from Columbia College. He waselected to Sumter District 17 and Richland One School Boards, and to Richland CountyCouncil.Solomon has served as president of the American Public Welfare Association and asChairman of the Columbia Urban League Board. He also serves as Chairman of theBoard of the South Carolina Institute on Poverty and Deprivation and the PalmettoDevelopment Group. Solomon is member of the St. John Baptist Church in Columbia,and he and his wife Helen have four children, eight grandchildren and three greatgrandchildren.A Georgia native, Solomon received his undergraduate degree from Morrris College,and a Master of Science degree from Atlanta University. He taught and served as anadministrator at Morris College for three years before pursuing further study at USC.His significant public serviceearned him the Order of thePalmetto, awarded by bothGovernors Riley and Campbell.

NovemberLearn more about the people featured in this calendar at www.scafricanamerican.comSouth CarolinaAfricanAmericanHistory CalendarSunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday1 2 Election Day 3 4 5 67 Daylight Savings 8 9 10 11 Veteran’s Day 12 13Time EndsDavid Dinkins elected first Black Mayorof New York City in 1989.First issue of Ebony published in 1945.First issue of Crisis published in 1910.Edward W. Brooke was elected firstBlack U.S. Senator (R- Mass.) in 85years in 1966.President Ronald Reagan signed lawdesignating the third Monday in JanuaryMartin Luther King Jr. Day in 1983.Benjamin Banneker, surveyor, wasborn in 1731.South Carolina State College wasestablished in 1896.Andrew Hatcher was named associatepress secretary to President John F.Kennedy, becoming the first Blackpress secretary in 1960.T. Elkins patented the refrigeratingapparatus in 1879.Nat Turner, leader of a Virginia slaverevolt, was hanged in 1831.Walter E. Washington elected Mayor ofWashington, D.C. in 1974.In 1775, General George Washingtonissued an order, later rescinded, whichforbade recruiting officers to enlistBlacks.14 15 16 17 18 19 20Absalom Jones, minister, was bornin 1746.Dwight Gooden won baseball’s CyYoung Award in 1985.Booker T. Washington died in 1915.In 1979, the Nobel Prize in economicswas awarded to Professor Arthur Lewisof Princeton.“Father of the Blues,” W.C. Handy, wasborn in Florence, Ala. in 1873.Omega Psi Phi was founded on thecampus of Howard University in 1911.Abolitionist and orator Sojourner Truthwas born in 1787.Roy Campanella was named theNational League MVP for the secondtime in 1953.21 22 23 24 25 Thanksgiving 26 27Garrett T. Morgan patented the trafficsignal in 1923.Shaw University was founded in 1865.Alrutheus A. Taylor, teacher andhistorian, was born in 1893.J.L. Love put patents on the pencilsharpener in 1897. Scott Joplin, composer, born in 1868.28 29 30 31Luther “Bill” Robinson, dancer, diedin 1949.Sojourner Truth, evangelist, died in1883. Richard Wright, author, died in 1960.Ernie Davis became the first AfricanAmerican to win the Heisman Trophyin 1961.Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.was born in 1908.Congresswoman Shirley Chisholmwas born in 1924.