Erskine
graduates (left to right) Eleanor Pressly ('38),
and Elizabeth Rogers Hartley ('88)
Part
I: Great Graduates of the 20th Century
By
Maggie Peeler
Erskine College has produced some of the nation's
finest and most successful people of the past 100
years.
Since the school began in 1839, men and women who
are products of an Erskine education have been making
a name for themselves in the challenging and
competitive career world. From homemaker to rocket
scientist, Erskine graduates have become what and who
they are due in large part to their education and
experience gained at the small school situated in Due
West, S.C.
The turn of the century quickly approaches, but
before the new millennium sees the future successes
of Erskine graduates to come there are a number of
20th century graduates who have made or continue to
make their marks in this vast world.
Julian Miller, Brodie Griffith, Lila
Bonner-Miller, and Dr. J. Calvin Reid are four
Erskine graduates of the early 1900s who are prime
examples of people who used their college education
to create lives of achievement. Although they have
all passed away, they left remarkable contributions
to society.
Julian Miller, class of 1906, and Griffith, class
of 1920, were both editors of The Charlotte
Observer. Miller helped to build The Observer
into one of the South's greatest newspaper
publications. Griffith succeeded Miller as editor and
allowed for Erskine alumni to lead The Observer
for a total of 60 years.
Lila Bonner-Miller, also a member of the class of
1920, became a psychiatrist after college. She was
the subject of a documentary film produced in
Georgia.
In 1922 Dr. J. Calvin Reid graduated from Erskine
and became vice moderator of the United Presbyterian
Church U.S.A. He was a nationally known minister and
writer of children's books.
William H. Stuart Sr., a 1924 graduate, became
president and chairman of the board of the Stuart
family livestock and citrus conglomerate. He was a
philanthropist who contributed scholarships to
Davidson and Erskine colleges.
Erskine produced a rocket scientist in 1938 with
the graduation of Eleanor Pressly. She worked at
Goddard Space Center and was among 10 other
outstanding U.S. women to receive the “Federal
Woman's Award” in 1963. She is currently retired
and living in Rockville, Md.
Three members of graduates of Erskine College in
the 1940s became successful career people. Henderson
Nesbitt was superintendent of Fort Mill Schools and
also a state legislator. Dr. Lillian A. Pennell
became a counselor for quadriplegics at Woodrow
Wilson Rehabilitation Center in Virginia. Being a
quadriplegic herself since 1943, Pennell earned her
Ph.D. in counseling. And Maj. General H. Lloyd
Wilkerson was a commanding general of Camp Lejeune,
Third Marine Division and Third Amphibious Force in
the Far East.
Wilkerson fought at Guadalcanal and served in
Korea and Vietnam. He was the editor of Erskine's
school newspaper while in college. Wilkerson is
currently retired and resides in Jacksonville, NC.
Perhaps not so glamorous as the careers achieved
by the graduates before her, Elizabeth Rogers
Hartley, class of 1988, is a homemaker. After
graduation from Erskine, Hartley received a graduate
scholarship for international study in England where
she studied law. Following her graduate studies, she
took a job in the investment industry and managed the
Operations and Client Service for an investment
software company in Research Triangle Park. But five
years ago, with the birth of her first daughter, she
went into the business she calls “domestic
management.”
Hartley said this about her Erskine experience,
“. . . at Erskine, I learned `balance.' Somehow
I came away from there knowing that I had the tools
to take the world by storm but also knew there were
times when it was OK not to. It's OK to live by your
priorities, even if it doesn't make for a great
resume. I'm glad Erskine didn't instill the
`worldliness' in me that would have made that a tough
decision.”
More great Erskine graduates of
the 20th century to be continued next week . . .
