Miss M. Catharine Wilkinson

Dates of Service: 1919-1969

Joining Jessie Heron as a faculty member in the Preparatory Department in 1919 was Margaret Catharine Wilkinson ’19. Miss Wilkinson was hired to teach Latin and French – just months after she completed her own studies in modern languages and graduated from this College.

When she joined the College’s faculty in 1923, her title was Assistant Professor of French. She earned a master’s degree from Columbia University in 1925 and went on to complete coursework at the Sorbonne in Paris and at Emory University in Atlanta.

Her students fondly remember learning to speak French like their instructor – with an East Tennessee accent. A fast walker and fast talker, she was no-nonsense. Her classes were orderly, and students could depend on her to follow the syllabus and cover the necessary material. She was a resourceful sponsor of the College’s French Club for decades.

French wasn’t her only subject – she taught English, German and Latin, too.

She retired in 1969 as Associate Professor of French, but taught part-time for several more years. Her 50 years of teaching place her just below Brownie on the list of longest-serving employees, but among professors, her tenure is the longest.

When her relatives were asked what they thought their Aunt Catharine would think of being honored as a “Legend of Anderson Hall,” they used these words: “humbled, excited and pleased beyond imagination.”