Dr. Luther H. Foster, Sr.

Educator. Trailblazer. Pioneer

In Memory of Dr. Luther Hilton Foster, Sr. by Laura Hendrick Charity (Granddaughter of Dr. Foster)

Luther Hilton Foster, Sr. was born on May 26, 1888 in the little town of Clover in Halifax County, Virginia. He was the son of Oliver and Mary Elizabeth Bailey Foster. His father was a farmer who also operated a small country store on the highway just outside of town. His mother had been a slave child. Theirs was a family of ten children, with Luther the fifth of six boys and four girls.

Luther attended the grades taught in the one and two room county schools. He liked arithmetic and studied it during the summer months, using a plank portable blackboard borrowed from the school. He made his first desk from rough plank. It had a top which he kept locked to keep his papers and belongings secure.

During these formative years he was engaged in part-time farm work and worked in his father's store. That was the beginning of his life's work. In his late teens and early 20's he attended St. Paul's Normal & Industrial Institute (St. Paul's College) in Lawrenceville, Virginia. Following graduation he taught for one year in the public schools, after which he returned to St. Paul's to serve a three-year apprenticeship in the institute's business office. From 1911 to 1913 he was employed as head bookkeeper at St. Paul's under the supervision of Daniel Crawford Smith, CPA, of New York City, auditor for the institute.

Marriage to Daisy Poole & Career Path

On September 9, 1912 he married his classmate, Daisy Octavia Poole of Surry, Virginia, who was a that time secretary to St. Paul's principal. In 1913 Luther left St. Paul's to begin work at Virginia Normal & Industrial Institute (Virginia State University) in Petersburg, replacing the retiring Treasurer-Business Manager.

Luther had a keen and inquiring mind that never left a question unanswered. This brought him in contact with many outside the academic world. Over the years he was offered employment by schools and foundations and was asked to manage a major city's black housing project. As Virginia State College's (Virginia State University) Treasurer-Business Manager from 1913 to 1944, and President from 1944 to 1949, it was his responsibility to assure the maintenance of a physical and academic environment where teachers could teach and students would come wanting to learn. That he did for 36 of his 61 years.

The Descendants & Dedications of
Luther H. Foster, Sr.

Luther died of natural causes in Petersburg, Virginia on July 6, 1949, and was buried in Blandford Cemetery in Petersburg. His wife Daisy and their three children , Luther Hilton Jr., Virginia Poole, and Mary Allen survived him. His living descendants include 2 children, 5 grandchildren, 8 great-grandchildren and 3 great-great-grandchildren. In June 1950, the newly completed Luther H. Foster High School in Nottoway County, Virginia was dedicated in memory of Luther H. Foster; Virginia State University's Luther Hilton Foster Hall student activities building was dedicated to his memory in 1954.

Highlights of Luther H. Foster Life's Work

Historian Rayford Logan (1897-1982), in the Dictionary of American Negro Biography, edited with Michael Winston, cited highlights of the life's work of Luther H. Foster, Sr. Several excerpts follow:

Along with serving as college administrator from 1913 until his death in 1949, Luther Hilton Foster, Sr., was a pioneer in educational financial planning and management. He applied much of his attention and expertise to assisting Negro higher educational institutions improve their business operations from 1929 to 1949 as a consultant for the General Education Board and the Julius Rosenwald Fund.

It was Foster's work at Virginia State College- where he served as treasurer and business manager (1913-1943), as acting president (1943-1944), and as president from 1944 until his death- that brought him wide acclaim as an astute administrator and financial "wizard". Those who knew and were associated with him at Virginia State characterized Foster as a "person of high integrity and demanding standards, whose passion for work set an outstanding example for faculty and staff as well as students of the college."

When Foster became associated with Virginia State College in 1913 it was a normal school without accreditation. During his 36-year tenure- with extended leaves of absence to pursue further study at the University of Chicago- Virginia State strengthened and expanded its program to offer Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, and Master of Science degrees, and received full accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. For thirty years as treasurer and business manager of the College, Foster had responsibility for all financial operations, including planning for capital additions, preparation and justification of operating and capital expenditures to state officials and other agencies from which funds were secured.

While Foster was at Virginia State:

the plant grew from $285,000 to $5 million in value
the endowment fund increased from zero to $173,000
the operating budget expanded from $36,000 to $1.4 million
the annual income from public funds increased from $16,500 to $635,000.

At the time of Foster's death in 1949 the college had a resident enrollment of 1,500 students and the junior college division which was established in Norfolk in 1944 enrolled 800 students. In addition, the college offered a number of services to adults in the state through home study and extension courses, workshops, and special institutes.

Foster decided to remain at Virginia State College, despite offers to take positions at other institutions including:

Howard University
Hampton Institute
Tuskegee Institute
Kentucky State College.

Quote from Dr. Foster in 1942

"I have remained here because I have been interested in and fond of the work which I have tried to do here. We have had good Boards under which to work during the last 30 years. There has been a growing tendency toward more liberal support of this College, and I have been happy to work under the several Boards with my associates here looking toward the coming of brighter days and better things. To say that I feel encouraged and rewarded over the results would be expressing it very mildly."

Contributions to the Negro Foundations & Institutions

For 20 years, from 1929 until his death, Foster was financial advisor for all Negro Institutions which received funds from the General Education Board. He was also a specialist in business administration for the Julius Rosenwald Fund. The board was making modest grants to some of the Negro colleges and needed to be assured that the money would be used with maximum effectiveness in carrying out a carefully developed educational program in each instance. His services as consultant to the General Education Board included visits and evaluations of programs at the colleges, in which he was often joined by board officers as well as by business officers from other Negro colleges.

In Foster's work with Negro colleges to improve their fiscal operations, the need for better trained business officers was evident to him. He established an internship for college business officers at Virginia State College, with financing from the General Education Board, and a number of promising young men were associated with the program for several months to learn the Virginia State College system and the business management techniques employed so effectively by Foster.

In 1939 Foster joined with the treasurer of Howard University, and the business manager of Hampton Institute, in establishing the Association of Business Officers in Schools for Negroes. He served as the association's first president and as a member of its executive committee until his death. In 1947 he obtained authorization for the establishment of a senior ROTC at Virginia State (Thomas D. Pawley to R.W.L., Feb. 13, 1976).

Accomplishments & Memberships

Dr. Luther H. Foster, Sr. was involved in many organizations during his lifetime, including:

President of the Association of Presidents of Negro Land Grant Colleges
Administrator of the Virginia Graduate Aid Fund for out-of-state study by Negro students
Member of the Virginia State Planning Board
Member of the Board of Trustees of Bishop Payne Divinity School in Petersburg and of St. Pual's Institute
Active YMCA Member
Life Member of the NAACP
Member of the Masonic Order
Member of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity
Member of the Sigma Lambda Fraternity
Member of the Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity
Vestryman Episcopalian at Saint Stephen's Church in Petersburg
Member of the Executive Board of the Diocese of Southern Virginia
Member of the Subcommittee known as Division of Domestic Missions
Member of the National Council of the Protestant Episcopal Church

Doctor of Laws Degrees

Foster received an honorary Doctor of Laws degrees from Morris Brown College in 1943 and from Virginia Union University the same year. His name included in the Honor Roll of the Richmond Times Dispatch in 1942, and in 1944 he was awarded a certificate of merit by Camp Lee, Virginia for his community college-army cooperation during World War II.

Sources: Personal papers and notes of family members, including excerpts from Rayford W. Logan and Michael R. Winston, Editors of Dictionary of American Negro Biography, Norton, 1982.

100th Birthday Celebration

October 1988: Daisy Octavia Poole Foster's Birthday

Front, from left-Luther H. Foster, Jr. (son of Luther H. Foster, Sr.); Laura Virginia Hendrick Charity (granddaughter of Luther H. Foster, Sr.); Daisy Octavia Poole Foster (widow of Luther H. Foster, Sr.); Mary Allen Foster Burleigh (daughter of Luther H. Foster, Sr.); and Virginia Poole Foster Hendrick (daughter of Luther H. Foster, Sr.)

Back, from left- Luther Hilton Foster, III (grandson of Luther H. Foster, Sr.); Janet Marie Foster (great-granddaughter of Luther H. Foster, Sr.)

Luther H. Foster, Jr. Meets President Kennedy

President John F. Kennedy delivers remarks to leaders and members of the United Negro Colleges Development Campaign.

Those present include: Chairman of the Board of Directors of the UNCDC, William T. Gossett; President of the UNCDC, Luther H. Foster Jr.; Founder of the UNCDC, Dr. Frederick D. Patterson; Executive Director of the UNCDC, William J. Trent, Jr.; National Chairman of the UNCDC and Chairman of the General Foods Corporation, Charles G. Mortimer.

Rose Garden, White House, Washington D.C.

Taken on September 12th, 1963

Source: John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston; Author: Cecil W. Stoughton (1920-2008)

President John F. Kennedy meets with members of the United Negro College Fund in the Oval Office

Left to right: Chairman of the Board of Directors of Waddell and Reed, Inc., Chauncey L. Waddell; Investment banker from New Orleans, Louisiana, Edgar B. Stern, Jr.; President of the United Negro College Fund and President of the Tuskegee Institute, Luther H. Foster, Jr.; Editor of The Atlantic Monthly, Edward A. "Ted" Weeks; Headmaster of the Commonwealth Schools of Boston, Massachusetts, and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, Charles Merrill, Jr.; former Vice President and General Counsel of the Ford Motor Company, William T. Gossett; President Kennedy; Executive Director of the United Negro College Fund, William J. Trent, Jr.; President of the Phelps-Stokes Fund and Founder of the United Negro College Fund of New York, Frederick D. Patterson; Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Tuskegee Institute, Basil O'Connor

White House, Washington D.C.

Taken on September 25th, 1962

Source: John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston; Author: Cecil W. Stoughton (1920-2008)