Notable Alumni Many outstanding individuals have attended Claflin University. Here is a selection of alumni who have achieved notable success and recognition.
Arthur E. Rose (1950) – Internationally recognized artist and the first African-American educated as an art instructor in South Carolina.
William Bulkley (1882) – One of the first AfricanAmericans in America to receive the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD. from Syracuse University in 1893). He was one of two members of the first graduating college class.
Ernest A. Finney, Jr. (1952) – First AfricanAmerican to serve as chief justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court.
Nathaniel Middleton (1882) – One of two members of the first graduating college class, he became a prominent physician in Texas. Alice Jackson Moorer (1884) and Annie Thortne Holmes (1884) – Two of the first five black women in the world to receive college degrees. Robert Bates – First African- American certified as an architect. He designed Fisk Hall, T. Willard Lewis Chapel and other campus buildings. William Wilson Cook – Designed Lee Library (1898) and Tingley Memorial Hall. He went to Washington, D.C., to become the first black architect in the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of the Supervising Architect, planned and administered federal buildings. Florella Fordham (1900) – First “trained” nurse in Orangeburg. Nathaniel Frederick – First African-American admitted to the Richland County Bar. He practiced law in Columbia for 25 years. Cassandra Maxwell Birney (High School, 1928) – First black female attorney admitted to the South Carolina Bar. Thaddeus K. Bythewood, Sr. (1930) – Prominent Orangeburg businessman who served on the Board of Trustees for 47 years. James S. Thomas (1939) – First African-American bishop of the Iowa Conference of the United Methodist Church. Rev. Dr. Hubert V. Manning (1940) – First alumni president of Claflin University.
Joseph B. Bethea (1953) – First AfricanAmerican to serve as bishop of the South Carolina Annual Conference.
Ernest A Finney Jr.
Dr. Gloria Blackwell (1953) - An African-American civil rights activist and educator who was at the center of the Civil Rights Movement in Orangeburg during the 1960s. She was arrested for sitting in the “whites only” area of the regional hospital when her daughter needed emergency treatment. She sued the hospital and won, ending its segregation. James Martin, Ph.D (1954) – First African-American to earn a PhD (biology) from the University of South Carolina. Leo F. Twiggs (1956) – Internationally recognized artist and first African-American to receive a doctorate from the University of Georgia. Cecil Williams (1960) – Internationally recognized photographer, author and publisher known for his extensive collection of Civil Rights photographs. Dorothy Z. Elmore (1961) – Philanthropist. Cecil Williams James K. Davis (1962) – Senior Vice President for Corporate Affairs, Georgia Power Company. James Hodges (1966) – First African-American to earn a pharmaceutical degree from the Medical University of South Carolina. MacArthur Goodwin (1963, honorary Doctor of Humane Letters) – Past president of the National Art Education Association.
Clemmie B. Hatchett (1943, honorary Doctor of Humane Letters) – Philanthropist.
Henry N. Tisdale (1965) – Eighth president of Claflin University. First African-American to earn a PhD. in mathematics at Dartmouth College.
Earl M. Middleton (1948, honorary Doctor of Humane Letters) – Philanthropist and owner of Coldwell Banker Middleton and Associates.
Nancy Wilson-Young (1965) – Professor, Miami-Dade Community College.
Ernest Newman (1948) – First African-American bishop of the Tennessee Conference of the United Methodist Church.
Rev. Charles Luther Johnson (1966, honorary Doctor of Divinity) – Greenville District Superintendent, The United Methodist Church.
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