Mailing Address:
Special Collections
College of Charleston Library
66 George Street
Charleston, SC 29424

Phone:
(843) 953-8016

Title: Klyde Robinson collection

Collection #: Mss 1024

Dates: 1870-2001

Size: 1 linear ft.

Biographical Note: Charleston native Klyde Robinson attended the Citadel and Harvard Law School. He served in the United States Army during World War II and was awarded six battle stars for participation in European conflicts. Robinson became a lawyer, ran two campaigns for the South Carolina House of Representatives and was appointed U.S. Attorney for the District of South Carolina. The Robinson family is one of South Carolina's oldest Jewish families, and descendants have owned Charleston businesses since the 1880s.

Scope and Content Note:

Includes letters, photographs, color photographs, photo albums, photocopies, clippings, pamphlets, typescripts, scrapbook, and ephemera.

Robinson family material includes genealogy (1850-2001); handwritten letters (1923, originals and photocopies) written by Eva Dora Robinson (1892-1923) to her husband Mitchell Robinson (1888-1958) from Asheville, North Carolina, where she was ill with tuberculosis; miscellaneous photographs (1870-1960s) of family and friends including Nettie Meyer Robinson Goldberg (1865-1933), Claire and Danny Hirsch, Klyde Robinson at 1928 Key Klub dance, group photographs (1966) at Camp Baker and Camp Barney Meditz, and a mounted photograph (ca. 1870s) of an unidentified group of men.

There are two disassembled family photo albums. The first (1890s-1950s) contains images of Karesh and Cohen children, Klyde Robinson in a Citadel parade (1940) and in Belgium during World War II (includes photo postcards of Robinson in uniform); other images (1945-46) of Robinson with friends at clubs in Miami and Savannah, of Irving and Dolly Robinson and a JCC basketball team (1950s). The second album was compiled by Klyde Robinson on the Governor Riley of South Carolina Mission to Israel (1981) and contains color photographs and ephemera.

Collection also includes family ephemera (certificates, programs), clippings (1950s-1990s) regarding family members, and miscellaneous material such as photocopies of Klyde Robinson's presidential inauguration invitation (1965) and papers regarding an 1892 transaction for lands on the Edisto River.

Other material relating to Klyde Robinson's political career includes 1968 appointment papers (originals and copies) for U.S. Attorney for South Carolina, related clippings from South Carolina newspapers, and congratulatory correspondence, including a signed letter from Sen. Ernest Hollings with enclosed Clerk's Copy of 1968 U.S. Senate Executive Calendar.

Oversize scrapbook of material related to Robinson's two bids for the South Carolina House of Representatives (1952, 1960) contains campaign material (fliers, bumper stickers, etc.) and election clippings and two photographs related to Robinson's appointment as U.S. District Attorney for South Carolina. Miscellaneous series contain Jewish interest materials, the bulk of which is related to the Bicentennial of the Charleston Jewish community and miscellaneous clippings, mainly related to desegregation in Orangeburg, South Carolina (1968).

Inventory:

  1. Robinson Family

    2. Genealogy (includes Klyde Robinson's resume). 1/1

    Correspondence (ca. 1923): bulk are letters (photocopies) from Eva Dora Karesh Robinson to her husband, Mitchell Robinson, written from a hospital in Asheville, NC, where she was ailing with tuberculosis; most letters discuss her condition and give childcare instructions. 1/2

    Original letters (11). 1/3

    Photographs 1870s-1960s: Carte de visite of Rudolph Robinson; photographs of Nettie Meyer Robinson Goldberg, Claire and Danny Hirsch at JCC dance; images of Klyde Robinson in group photo at Key Klub dance (1928), with friends in military uniforms; two group photos from Camp Baker (1966) and Camp Barney Meditz (1966); mounted photograph of unidentified men ca. 1870s; photocopies of all images. 1/4

    Photo Album-Robinson Family (1890s-1950s): disassembled; Karesh/Cohen children (ca. 1890s); Klyde Robinson with his nurse (1923), in Citadel Parade (1941), Citadel portrait (1940), in Belgium and Germany during W.W.II (includes photo postcards and group of 1x2" images); Klyde Robinson with friends at Club 22, Miami, Fl (1945) and in Savannah, GA (1946); Klyde with JCC Basketball team receiving award (ca. 1950s); Irving and Dolly Robinson (1950s); photocopies of all images. 1/5

    Photo Album-Trip to Israel (1981): disassembled; color photographs and ephemera compiled by Klyde Robinson from The Governor Riley of South Carolina Mission to Israel. 1/6

    Photocopies of album in its original state. 1/7

    Ephemera: photocopies from booklet, "Jewish Marriage Notices"(1917) re.1885 nuptials of Rudolph Robinson and Nettie Meyer; photocopies from booklet, "Old Jewish Cemeteries at Charleston, SC"(1903) referencing Robinson family gravestones; program: Gray Lady Graduation, Stark General Hospital (1945), Mrs. Mitchell Robinson mentioned; Certificate of Appreciation (1962) to Klyde Robinson from Sertoma Club. 1/8

    Clippings (1950s-1990s): Photocopies of clippings from SC newspapers and publications re. Robinson family including Rudolph Robinson, Mrs. Klyde Robinson and Irving Robinson; also Robinson's Bicycle Shop. 1/9

    Misc.: photocopy of hand written transaction (1892) between Nettie Robinson and John Boyd for land along the Edisto River; photocopies of Klyde Robinson's invitation to the 1965 U.S. Presidential inauguration. 1/10

  2. Klyde Robinson-Political Career

    3. Appointment Papers (Feb. 1968): includes original certified copies and copies of all documents appointing Klyde Robinson as U.S. Attorney for South Carolina such as Oath of Office and Civil Officer Appointment Affidavit; also typed letter from Robinson re. filing of appointment paperwork. 2/1

    Correspondence (1968-1979): Original signed letters (typed): congratulations from Attorney General Ramsey Clark, John W. Kern, III, and Hugo A. Pearce, Jr.; thank you letter from Principal of Burke High School; signed letter (typed) from Ernest F. Hollings with enclosed Clerk's Copy of the U.S. Senate Executive Calendar (1968); copy of letter (1979) to Sen. Hollings from the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance of Greater Charleston and Vicinity recommending Robinson for federal judicial position. 2/2

    Clippings (Jan-April 1968): photocopies and originals clippings from South Carolina newspapers re. Klyde Robinson's appointment as U.S. District Attorney for SC. 2/3

    D. Misc.: page (S3595) from the "Congressional Record" (March 28, 1968) referencing Robinson's confirmation as D.A. 2/4

  3. Misc.

    4. Jewish Interest: pamphlet, Bicentennial, Jewish Community, Charleston, SC 1950; typescript (1950) of tours of historic Charleston (for Bicentennial); typescript (1964) of rededication program for Coming St. Cemetery; photocopy of court case, "The State ex relation Abraham Ottolengui and others v. G.V. Ankler and others (Charleston, Jan. Term, 1846)" 2/5

    Misc. Clippings (Feb. 1968): bulk pertain to desegregation of the All Star Triangle Bowling Lanes in Orangeburg, SC. 2/6

  4. Oversize material

    5. Scrapbook (1952-1968): 19"x23.5"x1.75"; contains material related to Klyde Robinson's two bids (1952, 1960) for SC House of Representatives: clippings, campaign material, rough drafts of campaign fliers, typescripts of radio addresses, telegrams, information about other candidates, ballot and polling information, map of Charleston, Office of City Engineer (1946); misc. loose material includes photographs related to Robinson's D.A. appointment. Box 3

    "The United States Attorney": printed quotation (1935) by US Supreme Court Justice George Sutherland on the role of a U.S Attorney. Box 3

**Note: Judge Klyde Robinson gave an audio interview to the Jewish Heritage Project in August 1997