James Lide Coker - Philanthropy and Altruism

Philanthropy and Altruism

Major Coker was the driving force in the establishment of Welsh Neck High School, which later became Coker College in 1908; he gave the college a $50,000 endowment, which has played a large part in ensuring its continued existence.

Coker served his community as mayor of Hartsville and as a member of the state House of Representatives, where he introduced the state's first legislation seeking free public schools.

Of all that has been said and written about Major Coker, the words that best describe his philosophy came from his grandson, Charles W. Coker. "Major James L. Coker had some pretty definite ideas about a variety of things. His strongest principle, however, was an absolute inflexibility between what was right and what was wrong. He believed very strongly in the dignity of human beings, and this has been one of the basic philosophies of Sonoco's employee relations policy, customer relations policy, and our stockholder relations policy throughout the years."

He was inducted into the South Carolina Business Hall of Fame in 1986