By Christopher Young,
Contributing Writer,
Dr. Holmes was both unassuming and confident as we walked from the parking lot to his second-floor office in Galloway Hall, on the grounds of historic Tougaloo College, for an interview. He relied on the aid of a five-foot-tall walking stick – not a cane – as we ascended the entryway steps and then the staircase to the second floor.
Now in his 88th year, he embodies a wealth of knowledge and experience. We sat together on the afternoon following Valentine’s Day, surrounded by pictures of legal giants like Reuben Anderson, Denise Owens, Dennis Sweet, Isaac Byrd and many others, as well as family photos.
The son of Genevieve and Henry Holmes, Jr., he graduated from G.W. Brumfield High School in Natchez in 1953, a segregated school built for African-American students in 1925. He received his bachelor’s degree from Jackson College for Negro Teachers in 1957, followed by a Master of Arts degree from Atlanta University in 1960. Fifteen years later, he earned the coveted Juris Doctor degree from North Carolina Central University School of Law.
“My first real job was as a teacher at Utica Junior College in 1962. Right after the Berlin Crisis, I joined the U.S. Army Reserves. I didn’t really want to enter the service, but it was the quickest way,” he recalled about his six-year obligation, of which only the first six months were active duty. He ended up spending ten months at Fort McClellan, near Anniston, Alabama. It was around this time when he met the love of his life, Willene Wade. They married in 1963 – “forty-eight years and ten months,” he shared – before her passing in 2013. When asked about his wife, he reflected, “She was the wisest person I ever met, the greatest influence I ever had.”
Dr. Holmes initiated the Pre-Law program at his alma mater, which was later renamed Jackson State University. He taught there from 1966 until 1993.
His reputation for preparing law school students is “unparalleled,” according to his former student, The Honorable Carlton W. Reeves, U.S. District Court Judge for the Southern District of Mississippi, who provided a comprehensive list of the law schools Dr. Holmes’ students have attended.
Discussing his transition from Thee I Love to Tougaloo, Holmes mentioned that Judge Reeves, a University of Virginia School of Law graduate who later clerked for Justice Reuben V. Anderson at the Mississippi Supreme Court, sparked discussions about Dr. Holmes’s impact. This led to Tougaloo College President, Dr. Adib Shakir, and Tougaloo Provost Dr. Bettye Parker-Smith considering whether Dr. Holmes could replicate his success at Tougaloo. “I was back and forth between the two for two years. In 1993, Tougaloo established a pre-law committee consisting of three professors, which we then expanded into a full program,” Dr. Holmes recounted. Judge Reeves confirmed this story in a conversation with The Mississippi Link newspaper on February 16, 2024, praising Dr. Holmes’s passion for teaching and his profound influence on students.
This year, the Pre-Law & Public Policy programs, housed in the School of Social Sciences, Department of Political Science, account for approximately 25% of Tougaloo’s overall enrollment, according to Pre-Law Director and Director of the Reuben V. Anderson Institute for Social Justice, Julian D. Miller, Esq. This achievement marks the program as a beacon of success.
Holmes, who served as an adjunct professor and pre-law advisor from 1993 until 2012 on a full-time basis, modestly claims to have retired, yet he continues to advise students and the program with varying frequency.
Dr. Holmes has two children and two grandchildren, ages 8 and 4. He humorously noted that his grandchildren think he walks like a turtle. His daughter, Marionette Holmes, serves as the chair of Economics and an associate professor at Spelman College in Atlanta. His son, Carey Holmes, spent twenty years in the U.S. Air Force and now works for Pratt & Whitney at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City.
When asked about his inspiration for becoming a teacher, Holmes stated, “I’ve wanted to become a teacher since 1954. I had wonderful teachers along the way.” He mentioned Sam Cook, referring to Dr. Samuel Dubois Cook, who in 1966 became the first African American to hold a regular and/or tenured faculty appointment at a predominantly white southern college or university. He also acknowledged Paula Boyd, an office manager who worked with the pre-law program at Tougaloo, as instrumental to his success.
Reflecting on his distinguished career, he expressed pride in being a teacher and the opportunity to inspire students. “They saw how enthusiastic I was about teaching and advising, and I’m proud of that,” he said.
Dr. Holmes enjoys reading biographies and newspapers, attributing his love for reading to his mother, who taught him, “First you learn to read, then you spend the rest of your life reading to learn.” He prefers reading and listening to the radio over watching television and has traveled to Africa six times, visiting Austria, India, Israel, Egypt and more. Since 1966, he has been teaching Sunday School at his beloved Mount Helm Baptist Church, continuing to do so, most recently on 5th Sundays.
When asked to describe Dr. Holmes, Julian D. Miller, Esq., immediately responded with “visionary, mentor, scholar.”
During Black History Month, The Mississippi Link newspaper is proud to profile Dr. Charles Henry Holmes for his lifetime of service to young people – masterfully molding excellence.
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