Campus Histories: Robert Kincaid & LMU

About Dr. Robert Kincaid

(May 17, 1893-May 21, 1960) 

Dr. Kincaid was born near Blairsville, Georgia. He passed away at the University of Tennessee hospital.  He left public school at age 14 and enrolled in the Blairsville Collegiate School (a Baptist school). While in  school he began working for the Union County Banner, a local newspaper which had previously  published some of his stories. 

Through the help of his friend Jim Nicholson, Robert was admitted to Lincoln Memorial University in  1912. His student years at LMU were fruitful. Robert was a member of the fire brigade, the treasurer of  his freshman class, a member of the Grant-Lee literary society and the YMCA. He was heavily involved  with the literary publications of the university such as the Student Oracle, The Blue and Gray (school  newspaper) and the Railsplitter (yearbook). In May 1915 Dr. Kincaid graduated from LMU with a  Bachelor of Arts degree. He immediately enrolled in the school of journalism at the University of  Missouri. Unfortunately he was unable to complete school due to his meager capital. Robert wrote to  the president of LMU, Dr. Hubbell, seeking employment. Dr. Hubbell hired Robert to be the ‘University  Correspondent’; handling publicity for the university. 

Robert married Beulah Catherine Chance of Cumberland Gap, TN on May 24, 1917. They had 2 children,  Helen and Robert Hugh; Robert died in 1941 at the age of 18. In November 1917 Robert enlisted for  training by the sergeant major school of the Coast Artillery. His first tour of duty was as a private in the  Coast Artillery Corps at Fort Monroe, Virginia. After graduating from the Artillery school he taught typing  and shorthand to prospective Army clerks. He was discharged on December 1, 1918 at Jacksonville,  Florida. January 1919 Robert resumed his duties as University Correspondent and editor of the  Mountain Herald at LMU. Over the course of the next few years Dr. Kincaid worked in a number of  university departments before leaving for a job as the managing editor of the Middlesboro Daily News  (Ky). 

In 1925 Robert returned to LMU as secretary to the business manager, after a period of rest due to  illness. From 1926 until 1937 Robert formed a company which bought the Middlesboro Daily News. He  remained strongly tied to LMU through this period. In 1930 he was elected a trustee to LMU; a position  he held until 1937 when he was elected vice president in charge of production. On June 6, 1937 he was  awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree. 

On January 11, 1947 Kincaid was named Acting President and in November of 1947 he was officially  sworn in as the President of LMU. During his tenure the University saw growth and campus-wide  improvements. On June 2, 1958 Dr. Kincaid retired with the tile President Emeritus. 

Dr. Kincaid received numerous honors including an honorary Doctorate for Literature from the  University of Chattanooga. He was the president of the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park  Association which successfully got the Federal Government to make the site a National Park. He was the  president of the National Huguenot Society and vice chairman of the Kentucky Park Commission. He  received a citation from the National Society of the Colonial Daughters of the Seventeenth Century; an honorary membership in LMU’s chapter of Tau Kappa Alpha a national forensic society. He received the  Lincoln Diploma of Honor and the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Medallion; both from LMU. He was also  Chairman of the Board of Deacons for the First Baptist Church of Middlesboro, Ky.

Dr. Robert Kincaid Bibliography

1917 – Lincoln pilgrimage and celebration: celebration of Lincoln’s birthday at Lincoln Memorial University, Harrogate, Tennessee, February 10-12, 1917. Pamphlet published 1950.

1937 – Lincoln Memorial University: a brief history. Book published 1937.

1941 – Jinny and Jim. Book published 1941.

1943 – Joshua Fry Speed – 1814-1882, Abraham Lincoln’s most intimate friend … Read before the Filson Club, February 1, 1943. Pamphlet published 1943.

1944 – John W. Starr, Jr.: Lincoln collector and author of Millersburg, Pa. Pamphlet published 1944.

1947 – Kentucky in the Civil War. Book published 1947.

1947 – The Wilderness Road. Book published 1947.

1949 – Lincoln, martyred friend of the south: extension of remarks of Hon. Clyde Doyle of California in the House of Representatives, Tuesday, April 26, 1949. Pamphlet published 1949.

1950 – The ageless Lincoln: a Lincoln Day address on “The worth of personal effort”. Pamphlet published 1950.

1950 – Lincoln pilgrimage and celebration: celebration of Lincoln’s birthday at Lincoln Memorial University, Harrogate, Tennessee, February 10-12, 1917. Pamphlet published 1950.

1951 – Abraham Lincoln, the speaker, [by] Robert L. Kincaid. This paper was presented at the convention dinner of the Eleventh Annual Tau Kappa Alpha Convention, Lincoln Memorial University, Harrogate, Tennessee, March 16, 1951. Pamphlet published 1951.

1951 – The Lincoln heritage in the Cumberlands: an address delivered before the Lincoln Fellowship of Southern California at Los Angeles, California, October 20, 1950. Pamphlet published 1951.

1951 – Lincoln‘s faith: the hope of our time. Pamphlet published 1951.

1952 – An open letter to friends of good books. Pamphlet published 1952.

1952 – School days at Bethlehem. Book published 1952.

1954 – Under the big beech. Book published 1954.

1955 – Boy finds a college. Book published 1955.

1956 – Boy finds a friend. Book published 1956.

1959 – Abraham Lincoln, miracle of democracy, address at annual meeting, Lincoln Fellowship of Wisconsin, Madison, February 10, 1959. Pamphlet published 1960.

1959 – My favorite miller. Book published 1959.

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