Whitefield McKinlay
From the Library of Congress
***Whitefield McKinlay***
(b. September 15, 1855; d. December 14, 1941)
South Carolina. Born free. Mulatto.
Occupation: note-broker, real estate agent.
Mother's occupation: dressmaker, seamstress.
Whitefield McKinlay (or Whitfield, spelling vary) was born in Charleston, South Carolina to George and Mary E. Weston McKinlay, free persons of color. The father George worked as a tailor. George was saw sufficient financial success that he was able to purchase enslaved workers during the 1830s. However, it appears that he made the purchases so that the enslaved persons could largely live as free persons of color. (At this time, manumitting a slave was only possible through an act of the legislature.)
Whitefield was educated at the Avery Normal Institute in Charleston. He graduated in 1873.
The year after he graduated (on April 16, 1874), Whitefield was nominated to be a cadet at the United States Military Academy at West Point by Alonzo J. Ransier. However, he was ultimately rejected as a cadet. An obituary for Whitfield states that he was rejected as a West Point candidate because failed a physical examination. At the time, upon arrival at West Point, Academy candidates were required to undergo an academic and physical examination. Whitfield may have been rejected on that basis, although Academy records justify the rejection with the unknown abbreviation "Ac. Bd." However, racial discrimination may have also played a role. West Point had only started admitting African Americans in 1870, and many of the early students reported being targeted for abuse. (See, for example, the entry on J. C. Whittaker.)
After being rejected from West Point, Whitefield entered the University of South Carolina. He registered on October 5, 1874, as a college student following the classical studies track. The university closed before he could complete his degree.
After the closure of the university, Whitefield taught school for a period and then in 1879 moved to Grinnell, Iowa and studied at Iowa College (now Grinnell College). In moving to Iowa College, he was following his former professor Fisk Brewer and his former classmate Hannibal Kershaw. Kershaw graduated the year before Whitefield arrived, so they did not overlap in Iowa. However, Whitfield was able to renew his relationship with Brewer and stayed with his family during his first two years at college. Whitefield attended Iowa College from Fall 1879 to Spring 1882. Of Whitfield's time at Iowa College, a 1910 article Iowa newspaper article reported that "He is said to have fitted in well to the college life and to have made his mark in the athletics as well as in study."
Whitefield left Iowa College in 1882. He did not receive a degree because he never completed coursework in analytic geometry. He moved to New York and Chicago. One account says that he worked as a Pullman porter. In 1884, he moved to Washington D.C.
In Washington D.C., he worked in real estate and was appointed to several government jobs. His first appointment was to the Government Printing Office. He relinquished the position in 1885 when Grover Cleveland assumed the presidency. (At the start of his presidency, Cleveland instituted a general reform that shrunk the number of federal employees).
After leaving the Printing Office, Whitefield opened a real estate and loan office. He continued to work in the business for most of his adult life, and saw good financial success. In an article on former U of SC students, C. C. Scottdescribed Whitefield as "one of the most prosperous and prominent businessmen in Washington."
While he was never elected to major political office, Whitefield was influential in politics. Whitefield knew President William McKinley and was a personal friend of President Theodore Roosevelt. He helped Roosevelt build relationships with African American leaders such as Booker T. Washington. Shortly after taking office (in October, 1901), Roosevelt invited Washington to the White House for dinner. Whitefield helped arrange the dinner by hosting Washington in his home during his visit to D.C. The dinner was a major event as it was the first time an African American had dined with the President. It was discussed in the national press and provoked much controversy with Southern whites. Ben Tillman, then a U.S. Senator from South Carolina, was quoted as saying, "The action of President Roosevelt in entertaining that [expletive deleted] will necessitate our killing a thousand [expletive deleted] in the South before they will learn their place again."
One year later (in August, 1902), Whitefield himself was a guest of President Roosevelt. He was part of a delegation that visited the President at his home Sagamore Hill (in Oyster Bay, New York). This provoked less controversy than the visit of Washington as it was at Roosevelt's private residence rather than the White House.
Later in the Roosevelt presidency (in 1902), he advised the President to appoint his former classmate William D. Crumas Collector of the Port of Charleston. Roosevelt followed the advice. Like Roosevelt's dinner with Washington, his appointment of Crum was highly controversial and was criticized by Southern whites. A group of South Carolina politicians, including Senator Tillman, attended the Senate committee before which the appointment was pending. They condemned the appointment and preferred charges against Crum, essentially to the effect that he had traded political support for the appointment. Crum was defended by P. B. S. Pinchback, the former Governor of Mississippi, and Whitefield. Crum ultimately receive the appointment, although it was not approved by the Senate until 1905 (3 years later).
Whitefield received political appointments from U.S. Presidents. In 1907, President Theodore Roosevelt appointed Whitefield to a Housing Committee charged with investigating living conditions in slums. He was appointed Collector of the Port of Georgetown, DC by President Taft in 1910.
In addition to his political appointments, he advised and provided financial support to local church leaders, members of the Howard University Board of Trustees, and African American politicians like Robert Smalls and P. B. S. Pinchback. He remained in contact with a number of former U of SC students and professors such as George Clinton, William D. Crum, Richard Greener, Isaac L. Purcell, and John A. Simkins.
Whitefield died at age 89 in his home on Rhode Island Avenue in D.C. and was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery. His papers form part of Carter G. Woodson Collection in the Library of Congress.
Whitefield McKinlay
From Honor to Booker T. Washington
Sources
1). Hilyer, Andrew F. The Twentieth Century Union League Directory. The Union League. Washington D.C. 1901.
2). Yenser, Thomas. Who's Who in Colored America. 1941-To-1944 (Sixth Edition). Brooklyn NY. 1942.
3). "Whitefield McKinlay." The Journal of Negro History 27, no. 1 (1942): 129-30.
4). 1860; Census Place: Charleston Ward 5, Charleston, South Carolina; Page: 376
5). 1870; Census Place: Charleston, Charleston, South Carolina; Roll: M593_1487; Page: 338B
6). 1900; Census Place: Washington, Washington, District of Columbia; Page: 14
7). 1920; Census Place: Washington, Washington, District of Columbia; Roll: T625_211; Page: 1A
8). 1930; Census Place: Washington, District of Columbia, District of Columbia; Page: 9B
9). Charleston, South Carolina, City Directory, 1878
10). "Journeyed to Oyster Bay." The colored American, August 23, 1902, p. 6.
11). "Opposition to Crum is Bitter." Birmingham age-herald, January 23, 1903, p. 1.
12). "New Collector of Customs." The Statesman, August 6, 1910, p. 10.
13). The Colored American, November 9, 1901, p. 12.
14). "Grinnell and Vicinity" Marshalltown Evening times-Republican, July 23, 1910, p. 8.
15) Koger, Larry. "Black Slaveowners: Free Black Slave Masters in South Carolina, 1790-1860." McFarland & Company, North Carolina, pp. 54-55.
16) "Biographical information: Mckinlay, Whitefield. Grinnell College Libraries Special Collections. Reference Code: US US-IaGG Pamphlet 52-52 pM1-pM253-52 pM20.
Posted 4/9/20