The students of the Radical University: George W. Clinton

George W. Clinton
From Lamb's Biographical Dictionary

George W. Clinton
From An era of progress and promise

George Wiley Clinton (b. March 28, 1859, d. May 12, 1921)
South Carolina.  Born enslaved.  Black.
Occupation:  Preacher.

George Wiley Clinton was born in Lancaster County, South Carolina to enslaved parents Rachael and Jonathan Clinton.  His father died when he was two years old, so he grew up living with his mother and grandparents.

Clinton's formal education started after the Civil War, when he was six years.  He attended public and private schools and then was tutored by a teacher from the West Indies.  He reportedly had to walk seven miles to attend public school.

Clinton registered at the University of South Carolina on October 5, 1874.  He entered in the college preparatory (or sub freshman) class, but by 1876 he was in the college program and following the classical studies track.  The university closed before he completed his degree.

After the 1877 university closure, he moved back to Lancaster Country and worked as a clerk for County Auditor C. P. Pelham.  He also continued his eduction by studying law at the firm of Allison & Connors.  (At this time, a university law degree was not needed to practice law.  One could instead study under a practicing lawyer and then pass the Bar exam.)

Clinton had been planning on a career in law, but this changed in November 1878.  While studying the law text Blackstone's Commentaries, he read that, to become a successful lawyer, one should study Bible.  Upon reading the Bible, he decided to devote his life to preaching the gospel.

On February 14, 1879, he was licensed to preach in the AME Zion Church.  He proceeded to work as a preacher and teacher, serving as principal of both the Lancaster High School and Industrial Institute and the Howard Graded School in Union, South Carolina.

In 1881, he joined the South Carolina Conference (the regional church governing body) and was appointed to preach in Chester, South Carolina. While living in Chester, Clinton received an undergraduate degree from Brainard College, completing the education he started at USC.  Two years later (in 1883), he joined the editorial staff of the Star of Zion, the official journal of the AME Zion Church. After spending seven years in Chester (in 1888), he was transferred to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.

Clinton preached at the John Wesley AME Zion Church while living in Pittsburg.  He was very active in both the church and the community.  In 1890, he founded the first Black newspaper in areas, the Afro-American Spokesman, as well as the AME Zion Quarterly Review, a journal for members of the AME Zion clergy.  He turned over the Quarterly to the General Conference (the main  administrative body of the AME Zion Church) in 1892 and became the editor of the Star of Zion (the denomination's main journal).

The Star of Zion was based out of Charlotte, North Carolina, so he moved to that city.  While living in Charlotte, he began attending Livingstone College and received an honorary M.A. degree in 1893.  The next year he received a D.D. degree from Wilberforce University in Ohio.

Clinton was made a church bishop by the General Conference in 1896, receiving overwhelming support. He continued serving as a church bishop for the remainder of his life.

Beginning in 1893, he began regularly visiting the Tuskegee Institute and lecturing to students. He worked closely with Tuskegee's President Booker T. Washington and went on a five state speaking tour with him.  Washington speaks glowingly of Clinton's accomplishments in the chapter "What I Have Learned From Black Men" of his book My Larger Education,

Clinton authored several books, the most well-known being Christianity Under the Searchlight.

Clinton died on May 12, 1921 in Charlotte, North Carolina.


Works by Clinton

1.  Christianity Under the Searchlight.  Nashville, TN.  National Baptist Publishing Board.  1909.  321 pp.

2.  The Three Alarm Cries

3.  Tuskege Lectures

From the Schomberg Center

Sources

1). Hood, J. W.  One Hundred Years of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church; or, The Centennial of African Methodism.  A. M. E. Zion Book Concern, New York City.  1895.  Pages 268-273.

2). Brown, John Howard.  Lamb's Biographical Dictionary of the United States Volume 2.  James H. Lamb Company, Boston.  1899.  Page 77.

3). Haley, James T.  Afro-American Encyclopaedia.  Haley & Florida, Nashville.  1895.

4). Washington, Booker T.  My Larger Eduction: Being Chapter from My Experience.  Doubleday, Page & Company, Garden City New York.  1911.

5).  Caldwell, Arthur Bunyan.  History of the American Negro: North Carolina Edition.  A. B. Caldwell Publishing Co. Atlanta, GA.  1921.

6). Murphy, Larry G., Melton, J. Gordon, and Ward, Gary L. “George Wylie Clinton.” in Encyclopedia of African American Religions. 2013. Print.

7). Leonard, John W.  Who's Who in America, 1906-1907.  A. N. Marquis & Company, Chicago.  1906.

George W. Clinton
From  One Hundred Years of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church;