Marshall, Harrison County
Poet, professor, and playwright, Melvin Beaunorus Tolson was born on February 6, 1898 in Kansas City, Missouri, to Rev. Alonzo, a Methodist minister, and Lera Ann (Hurt) Tolson. Melvin graduated high school in 1918 in Kansas City, Missouri and then earned a Bachelor’s degree in English in 1923 from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, the nation’s first Black college. Tolson began his teaching career in 1924 at Wiley College in Marshall, where he remained until 1947. While at Wiley College, Tolson taught English and Speech, created an award-winning debate team, co-founded the Intercollegiate Southern Association of Dramatic and Speech Arts, directed the theater club and coached junior varsity football. The debate team, the Wiley Forensic Society, packed venues and won many high-profile debates, including the 1933 defeat of England’s Oxford University and the 1935 defeat of the University of Southern California, the year’s national champions. Several of Tolson’s students became influential civil rights activists, including James L. Farmer, Jr., Fred Lewis and Heman Sweatt. Tolson’s passion and eloquence transferred to his own writings. From 1937 to 1944, Tolson wrote a regular column in The Washington Tribune called “Caviar and Cabbages,” a series largely based on African American life. Tolson left Wiley College for Langston University in Oklahoma in 1947. His poetry and writings continued to receive acclaim and he served as Mayor of Langston from 1954 to 1962. Tolson died on August 29, 1966, but will forever be remembered as an incredible orator, writer and educator who inspired others to prevail. (2014)