The University of South Carolina honored Solomon earlier this year, in April, the university erected a 12-foot monument in recognition of his role in desegregating USC.
James L. Solomon Jr., the first Black student to enroll in the University of South Carolina’s graduate program in mathematics, and one of only three Black students on the university’s campus in 1963, died on Nov. 29 at 94.
According to Fox Carolina, Solomon was a professor at South Carolina HBCU Morris College, located in Fort Sumter, before he decided to enroll at USC for graduate school.
In addition to Solomon, Henrie Monthieth Treadwell and Robert Anderson broke South Carolina’s color line for the first time since Reconstruction in 1963.
According to The Island Packet, Solomon earned a bachelor’s degree from Morris College and a master’s degree from Atlanta University. While he was teaching at his alma mater, after Anderson and Treadwell were admitted, he decided to apply to USC’s mathematics graduate program.
The University of South Carolina honored Solomon earlier this year, in April, the university erected a 12-foot monument in recognition of his role in desegregating USC.