South Carolina H 3669: James Solomon sympathy

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 3669 Text of Previous Version (Jan. 15, 2025) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 3669

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

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A house RESOLUTION

TO EXPRESS THE PROFOUND SORROW OF THE MEMBERS OF THE 
SOUTH CAROLINA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES UPON THE PASSING OF Dr. James Lewis 
Solomon Jr. AND TO EXTEND THEIR DEEPEST SYMPATHY TO HIS LARGE AND LOVING FAMILY 
AND HIS MANY FRIENDS.

Whereas, the South 
Carolina House of Representatives was saddened to learn of the death of James 
Lewis Solomon Jr. at the age of ninety-four on November 29, 2024, after a long 
battle with cancer; and

Whereas, born in McDonough, 
Georgia, on August 24, 1930, he was the son of Reverend James L. Solomon Sr. 
and Tessie Wyatt Solomon. He graduated from Booker T. Washington High School in 
Atlanta when he was just sixteen years old and studied at Morris Brown College 
in Atlanta until he was drafted into the military during the Korean War. He served 
six years in the United States Air Force and later earned a bachelor's degree 
in chemistry from Morris College in Sumter and a master's degree in mathematics 
from Atlanta University; and

Whereas, when James 
Solomon applied for admission to the University of South Carolina, he was 
already a family man and a professor of mathematics at Morris College soon to 
become that institution's vice president of institutional planning and research. 
On September 11, 1963, he was one of the first Black students to attend the 
university since Reconstruction, along with Robert G. Anderson and Henri 
Monteith Treadwell; and

Whereas, he had 
participated in the early stages of the Atlanta Movement, but he felt he needed 
to do more, so while studying to become the first Black graduate student at the 
University of South Carolina, he remained a member of the Morris College 
faculty, rising as both an educator and administrator; and

Whereas, Dr. Solomon 
developed and directed a National Science Foundation (NSF) funded program for 
elementary school teachers and served as division director at the South 
Carolina Commission on Higher Education and as commissioner of the South 
Carolina Department of Social Services; and

Whereas, he was elected 
to school boards both in Sumter School District 17, where he served as the 
first African American elected to public office in Sumter County since 
Reconstruction, and in Richland School District One, where he was the first 
African American to serve as chairman. He also served on the Richland County 
Council; and

Whereas, an active 
member of Saint John Baptist Church and devoted to his community, Dr. Solomon 
served on the Columbia Urban League, Brothers and Sisters, Palmetto Development 
Group, South Carolina Commission on the Future, and on boards of United Way of 
the Midlands, and the American Public Welfare Association. His contributions 
were recognized with an honorary doctorate from Morris College and a Doctor of 
Laws from Columbia College. He was twice awarded the state's highest civilian 
honor, the Order of the Palmetto, by both Governors Richard Riley and Carroll 
Campbell; and

Whereas, he married his 
beloved wife, Helen Marion Kennedy, in 1954, a union that lasted for seventy 
years. Together they reared a large and loving family; and

Whereas, the South 
Carolina House of Representatives is grateful for the life and legacy of James 
Solomon and for the example of excellence and service he set for all who knew 
him. Now, therefore,

Be it resolved by the House 
of Representatives:

That the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives, by this resolution, express 
their profound sorrow upon the passing of Dr. James Lewis Solomon Jr. and 
extend their deepest sympathy to his family and his many friends.

Be it further resolved that a copy of this 
resolution be presented to the family of Dr. James Lewis Solomon Jr. 

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This web page was last updated on January 15, 2025 at 03:09 PM