Hortense McClinton

Hortense King McClinton (born August 27, 1918) is an American retired professor of social work. She became the first Black faculty member at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1966.

Early life Hortense King was born and raised in Boley, one of 70 all-Black towns in Oklahoma. Her father, Sebron Jones King Sr., was born in Texas a year prior to the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to enslaved parents. He earned a veterinary medicine degree from Wiley College, held positions as a cotton farmer, banker, and veterinarian, and owned a lumber business and peach orchard in Texas. He became the founder and president of the First National Bank of Boley upon moving to Oklahoma in 1910. McClinton studied under renowned sociologist E. Franklin Frazier, a public scholar and then-chair of Howard's sociology department, during her undergraduate years. She then worked at the Wharton Centre, a settlement house founded to serve Black communities in North Philadelphia where McClinton both worked and lived.

McClinton's teaching included classes on casework, human development, family therapy, and institutional racism, infused with her own experiences as a social worker in Philadelphia and Durham. She emphasized the importance of recognizing and address systemic injustices—including racism, sexism, and poverty—within the field of social work. The UNC Black Faculty Staff Caucus honored McClinton with a Legacy Award for distinguished service in 2009, and the UNC General Alumni Association honored her with a Faculty Service Award in 2021.

Awards named for McClinton include the Hortense K. McClinton Faculty Award, given by the Black Student Movement at UNC; the Hortense K. McClinton Outstanding Faculty Staff Award, given by the UNC General Alumni Association's Black Alumni Reunion; and the Hortense McClinton Senior Service Award, given by the Kappa Omicron Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta sorority.

In May 2022, UNC held a dedication service for the Hortense McClinton residence hall and to honor McClinton; the hall had previously been named for Governor Charles Brantley Aycock, known for holding white supremacist views. The dean of the UNC School of Social Work announced that a scholarship fund for social work students who are the first in their families to pursue graduate education has also been created in honor of McClinton.

Personal life As of 2023, McClinton resides in Silver Spring, Maryland.