Education Trailblazer Honored By First Class at Northwestern High School (04/22/26)

HIGHLIGHTS

• Members of Northwestern High School's Class of 1975 will honor their former principal with a Winthrop scholarship to celebrate his decades of leadership and his commitment to fairness.

• Samual R. Foster Sr. was a trailblazer in South Carolina as the first African American to lead an integrated public high school.

ROCK HILL, SOUTH CAROLINA - Members of Northwestern High School's Class of 1975 will honor their former principal with a Winthrop University scholarship to celebrate his decades of leadership and his commitment to fairness.

Samual R. Foster Sr. was a trailblazer in South Carolina as the first African American to lead an integrated public high school. His strong leadership helped Rock Hill schools avoid and minimize the conflicts that occurred elsewhere around the state during integration of public schools.

In a tribute to his work, Foster's former students have established the Samuel R. Foster, Sr. Endowed Scholarship to celebrate his support for a quality education for all. The scholarship will support Winthrop students preparing to teach at the secondary level and aims to encourage future educators who will want to make a difference.

The Class of 1975 decided at its 50^th high school reunion last year on a way to thank Foster. "Members of the Northwestern Class of 1975 - the first group of students that Mr. Foster led for four years - decided to honor their venerable principal," said Anna Barron Billingsley, the class vice president. "We are pleased that so many former students and teachers, all of whom were touched by Mr. Foster, generously and thoughtfully stepped up."

To date, more than 50 donors have raised more than $30,000. Along with Billingsley, others working on the effort are Ed Senn and Ronnie Laffitte '80. The endowment and Foster were celebrated during an April 15 luncheon.

During a 30-year career in public education, Foster accepted increasingly challenging assignments, leading multiple schools though difficult, potentially volatile times as the community wrestled with how to dismantle a racially segregated system. He provided steady, inspired leadership during a pivotal time in history.

Foster was touched that his former students remembered him with the endowment. "The 1975 class of Northwestern High School certainly knows how to make an 'old' man happy," Foster said. "It is really nice to know that I am thought of in the unique way they chose to recognize me. The Samuel R. Foster Welcome Center at Northwestern High School and the establishment of an endowed scholarship at Winthrop University are distinct highlights of my career."

Born in Chester County, Foster was educated in segregated schools and graduated from all-Black Finley High School in Chester. After graduating from Morris College in Sumter, he was drafted into the U.S. Army. Upon his honorable discharge, Foster taught in Chester County. In 1958, he and his wife, Jestine, also a teacher, moved to Rock Hill where he taught and later became principal at both Fairfield and Sunset Park Elementary schools.

He was appointed principal of the historic Black high school, Emmett Scott, in 1968, and then as principal of Northwestern in 1971. He left Northwestern in 1977 to assume an administrative position at the district level. Elected to the State House of Representatives in 1980, Foster served for 12 years and was appointed a floor leader for the 1984 Education Improvement Act. The landmark law raised teacher salaries, increased support for the state's poorest school districts and introduced numerous other improvements for South Carolina.

Foster also served for four years on the Winthrop Board of Trustees as a designee of Jim Rex, the Superintendent of Education at the time. Foster rotated off the board in 2011.

For more information, please contact the Division of University Advancement at 803/323-2275.