Marion B. Wilkinson

Wilkinson was born in Charleston, South Carolina in 1870.[1] She was the eldest daughter of Richard Birnie and Anna Frost Birnie.[1] Wilkinson's family was a prominent Black family in Charleston. Her family's status and relative wealth allowed her to study at the Avery Normal Institute, which ingrained an ethic of community service that would inspire Wilkinson's later activism.[1] She graduated in 1888 with high honors.[2]

In 1890, Wilkinson became president of the WCTU's Charleston branch.[3] In that same year, she represented the women's auxiliary of St. Mark's Church in Charleston at the Annual Conference of Church Workers Among Colored People, delivering a speech about women's work.[3]

In 1909, Wilkinson, along with Sara B. Henderson, Lizella A. Jenkins Moorer, and Cecelia Dial Saxon, founded the South Carolina Federation of Colored Women's Clubs, a prominent American women's club.[4] Wilkinson became the organization's first president and worked towards improving Black educational attainment and living conditions.[5]

In 1911, Wilkinson and her husband moved to Orangeburg, South Carolina, where she started many community advocacy initiatives.[1] Wilkinson and her husband founded St. Paul's Episcopal Mission, a Black Episcopal church.[1] Wilkinson also founded the Sunshine Club, a local service organization. Additionally, she began the Fairwold Home for Delinquent Girls, later renamed as the Marion Wilkinson Home for Girls.[1][6]

Wilkinson was heavily involved in campus life at South Carolina State University. She was known as "Mother Wilkinson" and oversaw the women's dormitory.[1] Furthermore, Wilkinson served as chief of the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA), which resulted in the construction of the only YWCA building on a HBCU.[7] Wilkinson also ran the dining hall, worked with the Domestic Science Department, accommodated guests, and served as a mentor to students.[8]

Wilkinson's service also expanded beyond South Carolina. Wilkinson was part of a group of Black women that organized recreation centers for servicemen in World War One.[7] In the 1930s, she served as an advisor about child welfare programs for the Hoover administration.[7] She also served as the third president of the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs.[7]

Wilkinson was married to Dr. Robert Shaw Wilkinson, president of South Carolina State College.[2] They had four children together.[9]

She loved flowers, and played a substantial role in beautifying SCSC's campus.[2]

Wilkinson died on September 19, 1956.[1]

In 2021, PBS ran a special titled SC Suffragists: Clubwomen, The Pollitzer Sisters, and the Vote that detailed her work.[10]