Dwight Hillis Wilson Sr. (October 18, 1909 – March 27, 1962) was an American archivist, researcher, and teacher. He was the first archivist of

Fisk University Fisk University is a private historically black liberal arts college in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1866 and its campus is a historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1930, Fisk was the first Africa ...

Personal life

Wilson was born on October 18, 1909, in

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the List of North Carolina county seats, seat of Wake County, North Carolina, Wake County in the United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most ...

. His father, a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

minister, was also born in South Carolina while his mother came from Pennsylvania. On June 12, 1935, he and his wife, Gheretein Ridgeley, were married in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

They had one son, Dwight Hillis Wilson Jr.

Career

Wilson earned his degrees from

Kittrell College Kittrell College was a two-year historically black college located in Kittrell, North Carolina from 1886 until 1975. It was associated with the African Methodist Episcopal Church. After the college closed, many of its facilities became the Kitt ...

Shaw University Shaw University is a private Baptist historically black university in Raleigh, North Carolina. It is affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA. Founded on December 1, 1865, Shaw University is the oldest HBCU to begin offering courses in ...

, and

Howard College Howard College is a community college in the U.S. state of Texas with its main campus in Big Spring and branch campuses in San Angelo and Lamesa. History Howard County Junior College was established in Big Spring in 1945. 148 students be ...

(now University). For his master's thesis, the subject was "Shelley as Revolutionist." He was also awarded with a Doctor of Letters degree from Allen University in 1939. On May 9, 1931, Wilson and 8 others were inducted into the Pearl of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity as Neophytes. After his schooling, he taught at

Morris Brown College Morris Brown College (MBC) is a private Methodist historically black liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded January 5, 1881, Morris Brown is the first educational institution in Georgia to be owned and operated entirely by African Ame ...

from 1935-1936, before becoming the first archivist of

. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he was a member of th
Allied Force Records Administration
and worked in Caserta and Rome. His colleague, Ken Manden, recalled that Wilson was courageous and "always held his own—no mean feat for any archivist under such circumstances but, if I may say so, a remarkable one for an American Negro confronting what may have seemed to him to be a devious politico-military cabal." He was also a prominent member of the

Society of American Archivists The Society of American Archivists is the oldest and largest archivist association in North America, serving the educational and informational needs of more than 5,000 individual archivist and institutional members. Established in 1936, the organi ...

and served as Chair on the Committee on College and University Archives. He was the first

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

to chair an SAA Committee. In 1949, Wilson was awarded the Certificate of Recognition of the National Urban League for "outstanding achievement in archival work." Wilson wrote several articles for books and journals throughout his life, especially ''

The American Archivist The ''American Archivist'' is a biannual peer-reviewed academic journal and the official publication of the Society of American Archivists. It covers theoretical and practical developments in archival science, particularly in North America. The j ...

''. One of his better-known works is the article "No Ivory Tower: The Administration of a College or University Archives," published in July 1952 through the Association of College & Research Libraries, a division of the American Library Association.

Death

Wilson died on March 27, 1962, due to an illness he had had since childhood, in Washington, D.C. He was buried in Washington, D.C. three days later. His wife, Gheretein, wrote a pamphlet after his death, stating that Wilson "opened up new dimensions of mind and spirit for many people...He was as proud of the blistering letter he wrote condemning plans to build a dog pound on a lot earmarked for a school as he was of a poem or an article."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Dwight Hillis American archivists Kittrell College alumni People from Raleigh, North Carolina Shaw University alumni Howard University alumni Fisk University faculty Morris Brown College faculty 20th-century American educators African-American educators 1909 births 1962 deaths