K-State Loses Hall of Famer
May 13, 2006 | Football
MANHATTAN, Kan. - Harold Robinson, a 2004 inductee to the Kansas State Athletics Hall of Fame and the first African-American scholarship athlete in the Big Seven Conference, pass away this week at the age of 76.
Robinson, who was born in Manhattan in 1930, died at his home in Wharton, N.J, on Tuesday, May 9. He is the second K-State pioneer to pass away in the last two weeks.
Earl Woods, a member of Kansas State's 1952 baseball team and the first African-American baseball player in the Big Seven Conference, passed last Wednesday morning at his home in Cypress, Calif. Woods was 74.
"I had the opportunity to get to know Mr. Robinson and he was a very engaging, inspiring person," head football coach Ron Prince said. "His story was so compelling and the challenges he faced were so great, that we cannot comprehend them. I feel so lucky that he embraced us and truly wanted to know us.
"With the passing of Earl Woods and now Harold Robinson, K-State has lost important voices and symbols of its history."
Robinson effectively broke the color barrier in the Big Seven Conference in 1949, when he became the first African-American to be awarded an athletic scholarship as a sophomore.
A center on the Wildcat football team, Robinson earned first team All-Big Seven honors in 1950, despite playing on a 1-9-1 team.
Robinson went on to serve his country in the US Army during the Korean War, where he was injured and received a Purple Heart.
Following his military service, Robinson was employed by Western Electric, a division of AT&T, in Union, N.J. for 25 years until retiring in 1985. He then worked at Morris County Community College, Randolph, N.J. until 1997. He was treasurer and active member of Local 1095, a CWA-AFLCIO Local and the Telephone Pioneers Club of America.
An avid jazz and blues aficionado, Robinson spent his retirement years traveling to Manhattan each fall to cheer on the Wildcats.
Robinson is survived by his wife, Ann, daughters, Beth R. Shann of Bloomfield, N.J., Melanie Robinson of Long Valley, N.J., Judith Robinson-Phillips (Pernell) of Wharton, N.J., and Sherry L. Robinson of Long Valley, N.J.
Funeral services will be held in his hometown of Wharton, N.J., on Saturday, May 13. Additional services will be held in Manhattan with a family visitation from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. on Monday, May 15, at the Irvin-Parkview Funeral Home. Robinson will be laid to rest at Sunset Cemetery in Manhattan.
Online condolences for the Robinson Family may be sent to www.irvinparkview.com. Memorial contributions may be made to the St. Johns United Methodist Church, 20 Church St., Wharton, N.J., 07885.
