Finney will be honored by Claflin University
Claflin University will present Frances D. Finney, class of ’56, with the 2018 Visionary Leader Award during the 12th Annual First Lady’s Hats and Gloves Scholarship Tea at 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 20, in the Tullis Arena, Jonas T. Kennedy Health and Physical Education Center.
Finney will be recognized for her contributions in K-12 and adult education and community service.
Finney was born and raised in Newberry, earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood Education with a Minor in Social Studies at Claflin University and received her Master’s in Education in 1963 from South Carolina State University. Finney’s passion for teaching and inspiring academic achievement to both youth and adults led her to a career in education. She began teaching first-graders in Bucksport and later became the director of the kindergarten program at Morris College in Sumter. Finney later taught non-traditional students at the Vocational Rehabilitation Center in Sumter before serving as director of Student Employment at University of South Carolina Sumter.
Finney was married for more than 60 years to the late Chief Justice Ernest A. Finney Jr., class of ’52, who died in December 2017. He was the first black to serve as chief justice on the South Carolina Supreme Court since the Reconstruction Era. Their union produced three children: Third Circuit Solicitor Ernest “Chip” Finney III of Sumter; Jerry Finney, an attorney in Columbia; and Nikky Finney, a renowned author and a professor at University of South Carolina. Finney is admired as the matriarch of a family devoted to civil rights and social justice.
The First Lady’s Hats and Gloves Scholarship Tea will feature an assortment of specialty teas and musical performances by Loretta Holloway, class of ’74. Vendor booths will open at 5 p.m.
Proceeds from the event benefit the Alice Carson Tisdale Scholarship. Three Claflin students will be awarded $2,000 scholarships and laptop computers for winning an essay contest and for their academic achievements.
To purchase tickets, contact Tammy McCottry, director of special events, at (803) 535-5665, tmccottry@claflin.edu, or to become a sponsor and make a financial contribution, visit www.claflin.edu.