Robert L. Kincaid Papers

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.