Charles Clinton Spaulding (1 results)

No Binding. Single sheet, typewritten letter by African American business leader and entrepreneur Charles Clinton Spaulding on North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company letterhead, office of the President, and signed by Spaulding at bottom. Addressed to Dr. John Hope, then serving as President of Morehouse College in Atlanta, and dated January 26, 1931. Stamp of 'Terrell Collection' to front and back, having come from the personal African Americana collection of pastor Lloyd Preston Terrell. Measures 8.5" x 11". Marked personal at the top, the letter has to do with the highly sensitive subject of ensuring the appointment of an African American educator to lead Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina, the first HBCU to offer courses in the southern United States. Spaulding writes: "As I told you sometime ago, I am one of the Committee to select a president for Shaw University. The Negroes connected with the school, both its Alumni and Baptist supporters, have become so accustomed to Negroes being in charge of our schools in this State, until there seems to be a definite aim on the part of practically all interested to have a Negro President for Shaw. "The American Baptist Home Mission Society, I think, is doubtful as to whether or not a Negro can manage the School and continue to receive the support it is now getting." Spaulding then goes on to inquire into Hope's opinion of Benjamin Griffith Brawley, then serving as Dean at Shaw. While Brawley did not go on to receive the appointment, shortly after this letter was written, William Stuart Nelson, was appointed to become the first African American President of Shaw University. The letter serves as a fascinating testament to the networks of scholars and educators and the efforts required to appoint African American leadership to African American institutions. Signed by Author(s).