Clement Richardson | |
---|---|
President of Lincoln University | |
In office 1918–1922 | |
Preceded by | Benjamin F. Allen |
Succeeded by | Inman E. Page |
Personal details | |
Born | 1878 Halifax County, Virginia, U.S. |
Died | December 1949 (aged 70–71) |
Spouse | Ida J. Rivers |
Children | 4 |
Education | Mount Hermon School, Brown University |
Alma mater | Harvard University |
Occupation | Professor, university president, author, editor |
Clement Richardson (1878 – December 1949) was an American professor, college president, and author. An African American, he served as president of Lincoln Institute in Jefferson City, Missouri from 1918 until 1922.[1] He edited The National Cyclopedia of the Colored Race[2] which includes a profile on him.[3]
Clement Richardson was born in 1878 in Halifax County, Virginia.[4] He attended White Oak Grove Country School and tilled tobacco.[3] He moved to Massachusetts for access to more education, initially working in tanning and farming, before attending the boys' school at Mount Hermon School (now Northfield Mount Hermon School).[2][5]
For three years he attended Brown University, before transferring.[2] Richardson graduated from Harvard University in 1907, one six African Americans graduating that year.[6][4]
Richardson worked as a correspondent for many newspapers and magazines including The Boston Daily Globe;[7] work that continued throughout his entire life.
He was the director of the department of English literature and rhetoric of Morehouse College in Atlanta in 1908.[8] In 1908, Richardson joined the faculty of Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) as the head of the English department.[2][5] He wrote a pamphlet titled "Extension Work" while at Tuskegee Institute.[9]
From 1918 to 1922, Richardson served as the president of Lincoln Institute.[1][10] Lincoln Institute became Lincoln University during his tenure as its president.[11] In 1919, he was participant at a convention of African American educators in Jefferson City, many of the presentations were affiliated to the Negro Educational Congress.[12] In 1919, he missed a Negro State Teachers event due to coal shortages at the school and in Missouri.[13]
In 1922 he was to visit Richmond, Virginia.[14]
The Clement Richardson Fine Arts Center was building was constructed at Lincoln University in 1956.[15] The auditorium / theater wing was under construction in 1958.[16] The Arts Center has hosted events.[17][18]
Richardson was married in 1908 to Ida J. Rivers, and had four daughters.[5] He died in December 1949.[4]