-
- Up one level
- Holmes Hall Honors Groundbreaking Graduate, Athlete (2:20)
Tim Peeler, NC State News, October 15, 2018.
In the fall of 1956 Holmes and three other pioneering students became NC State’s first African-American undergraduates, changing the once all-white face of the institution when they enrolled in what was then called the School of Engineering. In their time on campus, the students broke one barrier after another by participating in the tennis, soccer, and indoor track and field teams, and in the marching band.
- Irwin Holmes inducted into the NC State Athletic Hall of Fame
Men's Track & Field, Men's Tennis
Awards
One of four African-American undergraduates to enroll in fall of 1956, the first in college history.
First African-American graduate of NC State University (1960, electrical engineering).
One of first two black student-athletes to participate in an Atlantic Coast Conference-sponsored event when they ran in a freshman track meet in February 1957.
Inducted into engineering honor society Eta Kappa Nu in 1959.
First African-American athlete to be named captain of a varsity sport at a Southern college or university.
Namesake of Holmes Hall, newly renamed building on NC State’s main campus.
General Information
While Holmes spent most of his sports career as a tennis player, he and fellow African-American freshman Manuel Crockett of Raleigh’s Ligon High School actually integrated ACC athletics in a freshman indoor track meet against North Carolina in what is now known as Dorton Arena. They both ran in the 600-yard dash, becoming the first African-Americans to participate in an ACC-sponsored event.
In his first freshman match, Holmes earned a forfeit victory because his opponent’s coach didn’t want his player to face a black opponent.
When Holmes was elected co-captain of the tennis team in 1960, he was included in Sports Illustrated’s “Faces in the Crowd” feature for becoming the first African-American captain of an ACC varsity team, a true honor for someone who spent the little money he earned selling Durham newspapers to pay for his annual subscription to the sports magazine.
- The State of Things - Meet Irwin Holmes: From Tennis With Arthur Ashe To Putting Men In Space (48 min)
WUNC The State of Things. Dana Terry and Frank Stasio, October 28, 2019.
Irwin Holmes became the No. 2 African American high school player in the country during a time when most blacks were not allowed on the tennis court. He was one of the first African Americans accepted to North Carolina State University and the first to graduate. He is credited with helping integrate ACC sports as co-captain of NC State’s tennis team. After graduating in engineering from NC State, he helped develop technologies including the one that put a man in space and laid the groundwork for the Internet. In 2018, NC State renamed a building after Holmes in honor of his accomplishments at the university and in his career. Host Frank Stasio talks with Irwin Holmes about his life and legacy.
- Where His Career Began: Irwin Holmes
At the dedication of Holmes Hall on November 1, 2018, Irwin Holmes shares how his exemplary career began with the help of faculty while a student in the Department of Electrical Engineering at NC State.