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Carleton and Solange Skinner, 4/6/2011
For 34 years, the main allegiance Solange P. Skinner had to Tilton School was through her husband, Carlton Skinner ’30.
Carlton Skinner, whose career included being the first civilian Governor of Guam and commanding the first integrated ship in the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard, was awarded the George L. Plimpton Award in 1989 for his passion for equality and freedom. He passed away in 2004 at the age of 90.
But in the six years since her husband death, Solange P. Skinner not only has continued Carlton Skinner’s legacy, she also has become a major supporter and advocate in her own right.
Solange P. Skinner was among the top major donors to the just-completed Campaign for Tilton and has included the school in her estate planning, earning her a membership in the Tilton Society. In April 2009, she hosted a planned giving program at Boston’s Harvard Club led by Attorney John Brown.
She and her husband created The Governor Carlton Skinner and Solange Skinner Fellowship, to “provide financial assistance to a student or students who exhibit a consistent sense of personal integrity, loyalty, and curiosity and who have demonstrated a commitment to fight injustice in all its forms.”
Solange Skinner also has been a frequent guest at Tilton, enthusiastically offering “high level advice” to the schools’ administration, including how to improve student and teacher recruitment and Tilton’s development efforts.
To honor Carlton and Solange Skinner’s commitment to Tilton, the two-story glass tower in the new academic building was named Skinner Tower.
“It has been a pleasure and privilege to come to know Solange Skinner over the past 13 years,” Tilton Head of School James Clements said. “She is a thoughtful and lively observer of the world in which we live. She has shared her insights about adolescent development on numerous occasions.
“In addition, Solange Skinner has exhibited extraordinary personal generosity to Tilton that has had, and continues to make, a difference in the lives of all students attending Tilton School.”
Even without their engagement with Tilton, both Solange and Carlton Skinner made enduring impressions on the national and world communities.
After graduating from Tilton in 1930, Carlton Skinner attended Wesleyan University and the University of California. He briefly was a correspondent for United Press International and The Wall Street Journal. He was a Coast Guard lieutenant and commanded the weather ship U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Sea Cloud, which became the Navy’s first fully integrated ship.
Skinner also commanded the U.S.S. Hoquiam, another fully integrated ship. Skinner then became a public relations office for the Department of Interior before being appointed the last Navy governor and later the first civilian Governor of Guam in 1949. He was appointed a U.S. senior commissioner for the Pacific Commission of the South Pacific Island countries.
He later became chief financial officer for American President Lines, Colt Industries and Fairbanks-Morse before forming the Skinner & Co. financial consulting company. A plaza in Agana, Guam is named in his honor.
Solange Skinner has two doctorate degrees in anthropology and psychology from the University of Paris - Sorbonne, three master’s degrees in philosophy, psychology and art history, a diploma in oceanic languages and has received training in psycho-analysis and group dynamics.
She taught political science in Paris for five years and anthropology at the University of Guam. She has written 11 books and numerous political and anthropological articles.
Solange Skinner said her continued generosity to Tilton simply is an extension of her love for academics and academic institutions.
“For me education is important,” she said.
She realized very early in her marriage that Tilton School was very important to her husband. The two, she said, often received numerous invitations to events at Wesleyan University and never went. Instead, they would go to Tilton.
“I would ask Carlton ‘Why are you always going to Tilton? Why can’t we go to Wesleyan?’ And he would say, ‘Because I love my prep school.’ It was so cute.”
Carlton Skinner came from a long line of academics and he had a passionate interest in social and political change.
“I said, “Carlton, why did you not go into academics?” And he replied, “Because I wanted to change the world.” And he did.
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1928 - 2023 (94 years)
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