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Spring
2003 -- Vol. 56, No. 2
Every Friday afternoon in a one-room schoolhouse in Laurens County,
students
hurriedly assembled for their weekly oratory program. An audience
overflowing with teachers, trustees and peers created an intimidating
atmosphere. One student in particular — D.W. Daniel — dreaded
the event.
From age 7 to 17, he tried his best to deliver some piece he had practiced during
the week only to end up running off the stage in tears. But the laughs and jeers
of schoolmates did not deter him from his drive to succeed as a public speaker.
Eventually, the boy who failed to recite a single line on those Fridays matured
into the man who became one of South Carolina’s most renowned orators — and
one of Clemson’s most influential educators.
Born in 1867, David Wistar Daniel cultivated a passion for education through
family influence and personal experience. His father served Laurens County as
superintendent of education and as a teacher in the public school system where
Daniel received his boyhood education. After Daniel graduated from Wofford College
in 1892, he too taught several years in the S.C. public school system.
Then, in 1898, he accepted a position at Clemson
College as assistant professor of English. Thus began a distinguished
career in service to Clemson that would span a half-century.
 During
his career at Clemson, Daniel moved up through the ranks to associate professor
of English in 1910, professor in 1913, director of the academic department
in 1918, and dean of the School of the Arts and Sciences in 1925.
While his effective leadership resulted in steady
advancement within the college administration, his first love
remained the education of young collegians. Likewise, he remained
a favorite professor among Clemson cadets throughout his
tenure. It was common knowledge among the cadet corps that “If
you want to get the best out of a Clemson education, you’d
better take at least one class with Dr. Daniel before graduation.”
Along with Daniel’s professional commitment to the College, he remained
dedicated to the public school system. He served on the S.C. State Board of Education
for 12 years and led the state teacher’s association as president. South
Carolina honored his service by awarding him the 1951 American Legion of South
Carolina plaque for distinguished service. In 1956, the state named the local
high school in Central after him. Clemson also named an academic building and
a campus road for him.
Daniel not only had a profound impact on the educational community of South
Carolina, he also held sway over the minds of audiences nationwide as one of
the South’s
finest, most entertaining public orators. His lecture tours carried him across
the nation, and his messages, laced with humor and good grace, echoed his personal
credo of diligence, service and patriotism.
Alongside the likes of President Herbert Hoover
and Amelia Earhart, he spoke to senators and congressmen, Supreme
Court justices, members of the armed services, manufacturing
associations, social clubs and others. Daniel’s powerful
words and humorous stories helped improve the morale of army camps during World
War II.
Although he traveled throughout America to deliver his messages, he was always
happy to come home to Clemson to his wife, Eva, and daughter, Evelyn. He lived
the last years of his life in his home near the present-day Clemson House where
he could look out his den window and see Bowman Field.
Upon his death in 1961, he joined other Clemson legends in Woodland Cemetery.
The great orator’s echoes faded, but his inspiration resounds today.
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