Orangeburg's first black high school opened in 1938 on Goff Ave. on a campus built by the Works Progress Administration. It was named for Dr. Robert Shaw Wilkinson (1865-1932), president of S.C. State A&M College. The school's mascot was the Wolverines, its colors were maroon and gray, and its motto was "Strive to excel, not to equal." It ultimately became the city's only black high school. In 1953, it moved to a new campus at this site, built to help the state preserve segregation by equalizing black and white schools. In 1971, it integrated with the white high school to form Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School. Grades 9-10 attended this campus until 1973, when it became a junior high school later named for Dr. Robert E. Howard, Wilkinson principal from 1952-1971.