Garnet C. Wilkinson
Garnet C. Wilkinson | |
---|---|
Born | Washington, DC, United States | January 10, 1879
Alma mater | Oberlin College (1902) Howard University (Bachelor of Laws, 1908) |
Occupation(s) | Educator and School Administrator |
Spouse(s) | Blanche E. Colder (married 1905) Caroline Manns (married 1948) |
Garnet Crummell Wilkinson (January 10, 1879 – June 15, 1969)
Biography
Garnet Wilkinson was born on January 10, 1879, in
Wilkinson then served as principal of the
In 1904, Wilkinson was involved in a scandal that led to his arrest. A woman named Eleanor Cartwright accused him of borrowing money during his college days, but never returning it. According to Cartwright, when she approached him for repayment, he brandished a knife and cut her throat. These allegations resulted in Wilkinson's arraignment in the District Police Court. He denied the charges, and the case was dismissed for lack of evidence.[5]
In 1905, Wilkinson married Philadelphia native and fellow educator, Blanche E. Colder, who previously graduated from Miner Normal School. The couple never had children, but remained married for 37 years until Colder died in 1942 of illness. In 1947, Wilkinson remarried another educator, Caroline B. Mann's. Their marriage lasted until Wilkinson's death in 1969.[5]
Wilkinson lived in the
Wilkinson died on June 15, 1969, at the age of ninety.[1]
Legacy
During his tenure as assistant superintendent, Wilkinson was both beloved by those who regarded him as a visionary in the area of black education and condemned by those who accused him of being a "staunch defender of the status quo." As assistant superintendent, he helped to grow Washington's reputation as a center for black educational excellence. He spearheaded initiatives to expand vocational education and athletics. He also promoted the idea of specialized schools. He enhanced the nursing program at Margaret Murray Washington High School, which trained African American girls to help meet the needs of black residents whose medical was limited to segregated hospitals. In 1928, he helped found Francis L. Cardozo High School, which served as the only segregated high school in the nation to offer a business curriculum for black students. He also promoted experiential learning and character education.[5]
Wilkinson was also a proponent of "separate, but equal" education because he believed that it benefitted African American residents in Washington especially. This position placed him at odds with many local anti-segregation activists, as well as the NAACP, which was gearing up to fight segregation in the courts. During a protest in 1947, when black parents staged a boycott over the inferior resources of several schools, including Browne Junior High School, Wilkinson opposed the strike. He also opposed the transfer of the illustrious all-white Central High School to black students who had been attending Cardozo High School, which was dangerously overcrowded. Later, Additionally, he supported a school board ban on the NAACP's publication The Crisis and the Urban League's Opportunity Magazine. When asked to reconcile his support of the ban and his connection to the NAACP and the Urban League, Wilkinson responded, "If I have to choose between the two, I would have to drop my connection with the organization[s]." When the school board disinvited noted author and activist Pearl S. Buck from giving a speech at Cardozo High School in 1951, Wilkinson argued that Buck's radicalism posed a threat. Many African American residents, most especially black parents, regarded his behavior as abominable.[5]
In 1978, the DC Public Library opened up a wing in Wilkinson Elementary School (Now Moten Elementary School) called the Garnet C. Wilkinson Branch.[14]
References
- ^ a b "Social Security Death Index [database on-line]". United States: The Generations Network. 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
- ^ a b "World War I Draft Registration Cards [database on-line]". United States: The Generations Network. 1917–1918. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
- ^ a b Allison, Madeline G. (February 1922). Du Bois, W.E. Burghardt (ed.). "The Horizon". Crisis. 23 (4). New York, New York: National Association for the Advancement of Colored People: 178.
- ^ Kerr, Audrey Elisa (2006). The paper bag principle : class, colorism, and rumor and the case of Black Washington, D.C. (1st ed.). Knoxville, Tennessee: University of Tennessee Press.
- ^ JSTOR 90021506.
- ^ "Tenth Census of the United States". Enumeration District 105, Summerville Township, Colleton County, South Carolina: National Archives and Records Administration. June 28, 1880: 46B.
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(help)CS1 maint: location (link) - ^ a b Lord, Louis E.; Martin, Helen White, eds. (October 1908). "Alumni news". Oberlin Alumni Magazine. 5 (1). Oberlin, Ohio: Tribune Press: 374.
- ^ "Garnet C. Wilkinson, longtime DC school official: 1950 ca". Flickr. January 1950. Retrieved 2017-02-28.
- ^ "Garnet C. Wilkinson Residence, African American Heritage Trail - www.culturaltourism.org". www.culturaltourismdc.org. Retrieved 2017-02-28.
- ^ Patterson, Homer L., ed. (1932). "Washington, DC". Patterson's American Educational Directory. 29. Chicago, Illinois: American Educational Company: 67–70.
- New York, New York: Vantage Press.
- ^ a b Jackson, Lauretta (1973). "Neighborhood History". Washington, DC: LeDroit Park Civic Association. Retrieved 2010-10-22.
- ^ "Garnet C. Wilkinson Residence, African American Heritage Trail". Retrieved 30 January 2017.
- ^ "Garnet C. Wilkinson | Frederick Douglass in Washington, D.C.: The Lion of Anacostia". thelionofanacostia.wordpress.com. Retrieved 2017-02-28.