“W” is for Whittaker, Miller Fulton (1892-1949). Architect, college president. A native of Sumter, Whittaker graduated from Kansas State College with a degree in architecture. In 1913 he joined the faculty of the Colored Normal, Industrial, Agricultural, and Mechanical College and taught physics and mechanical engineering. During World War I, he was an officer in the all-Black 92nd Division. Whittaker returned to the college after the war and designed a number of buildings on the campus. In 1932 he was named the third president of South Carolina State College and guided the college through the grim days of the Great Depression. Following World War II, enrollment soared. With the onset of the civil rights movement, Miller Fulton Whittaker found himself caught between state officials defending segregation and a Black community increasingly insisting on dismantling Jim Crowism.
“W” is for Whittaker, Miller Fulton (1892-1949)
