James L. Solomon Jr. — a trailblazer, veteran and distinguished civil servant — passed away Nov. 29 at the age of 94, leaving behind a tremendous legacy at the University of South Carolina.
A native of McDonough, Georgia, Solomon Jr. was one of three students who desegregated USC on Sept. 11, 1963.
He — along with Robert Anderson and Henrie Monteith Treadwell — are forever immortalized in a bronze statue in front of McKissick Museum, steps away from the Osborne Administration Building where they first registered for classes over 60 years ago.
Solomon’s legacy also lives on at USC in the form of a plaque at LeConte College, which houses the mathematics department, honoring him for his contributions to the university and the state.
“Dr. Solomon will always be remembered and honored at USC for changing the course of our university history,” President Michael Amiridis said. “We are forever grateful for his courage and his deep commitment to higher education.”
Coming to USC with a pair of degrees and service in the Air Force during the Korean War, Solomon Jr. enrolled in USC’s graduate mathematics program as the first African American student in the department.
He was teaching at Morris College in Sumter while earning his master’s degree at USC, and he went on to serve as Morris College's vice president of institutional research and planning.
“I can’t remember exactly why now — maybe it was the Atlanta stubbornness in me — but one day I said to my wife, ‘You know what? I ought to apply for admission to USC and just see what happens,” Solomon said in a 2013 Carolinian interview.
“Then on September 11, I shall never forget it: we met at Matthew Perry’s office and he drove us to campus behind a police escort. When we got to Osborne, Robert and Henrie registered downstairs. I was taken upstairs to an office, and the dean of the graduate school shook my hand. He had all my papers filled out. He had my course schedule. All I had to do was sign a couple of things then go pay.”
After his time at USC, Solomon dedicated the rest of his life to serving the Palmetto State, becoming the first African American to serve in key government positions spanning three administrations. For his service to the state, he was awarded the Order of the Palmetto.
He was a state agency director under Gov. John West, division director at the Commission on Higher Education under Gov. Richard Riley and commissioner of the Department of Social Services under Riley and Gov. Caroll Campbell.
Solomon was also the first African American chairman of the Richland One School Board and the first African American since Reconstruction elected to public office in Sumter County, serving on Sumter’s District 17 School Board.
USC’s Alumni Association awarded Solomon the Honorary Life Member this year.