William Thomas Robie survived childhood on a plantation, World War II and racial discrimination as a Black real estate agent in the 1950s.
But with an unstoppable entrepreneurial spirit, he helped open doors to fairer housing policies in Atlanta and earned a national reputation as a realtor and barrier-breaker.
“Mr. Robie was a giant. He was such a legend within his field, such a legend within the Atlanta community,” said Avery Kenly, an educator and president of the Atlanta chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Inc., a fraternity Robie belonged to.
Courtney Johnson, of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers, said in a statement to The Philadelphia Tribune that Robie’s life’s work is “a testament to resilience, advocacy and the enduring fight for justice.”
Robie, a realtor, a 21-year professor at Clark College and an advocate for fair housing opportunities for minorities, died Jan. 8. He was 104 and would have turned 105 on Jan. 29.
His funeral was Friday, Jan. 17, at West Hunter Street Baptist Church.
Robie was born in 1920 on a cotton plantation in Baldwin County in Middle Georgia. His parents were sharecroppers and during the Great Depression “only made a few dollars after a year’s work,” said Dr. Craig Logan, a close friend of 13 years.
Robie’s education was cut short at 14 years old. High schools near his home were refusing to enroll Black students at the time.
But with a burning desire to become a business owner, he could not be stopped. He joined the U.S. Army, serving in the all-Black 92nd Infantry’s Buffalo Soldiers during World War II. He came home and obtained his GED, the equivalent of a high school diploma. He then entered Clark College, now Clark Atlanta University, on the GI Bill.
Before he graduated from Clark in 1948, Robie joined Alpha Phi Alpha Inc., the nation’s first intercollegiate fraternity for Black men. He would be an active member for the rest of his life. Last January, about 40 brothers from the Eta Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha visited Robie at Summerset Assisted Living to celebrate his 104th birthday.
After finishing Clark at the top of his class and as class valedictorian, Robie earned a Master of Business Administration from the University of Michigan and began teaching business classes at Clark while building a real estate business, Robie Real Estate.
“His business flourished,” his youngest daughter Katina Campbell said. “He was a great, great business owner.”
Robie said in an earlier interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “All during this period, the Civil Rights Movement was fermenting, and, of course, being a veteran, we didn’t like the conditions we had to come back and face to make a living. Most of us gave support and encouragement to young people in challenging these laws that prevented us equal opportunity.”
Robie would excuse students, including Julian Bond and Ben Brown, from his class so they could take part in the protests. Both Bond and Brown would go on to become significant figures in the Civil Rights Movement.
Making a living proved challenging.
“Every time you would try to get a piece of land to build some Black housing, the Georgia Real Estate Commission would take your license,” Robie said.
Campbell said her dad “spent his whole life” trying to champion equality in housing.
“It was out of necessity,” Campbell said. “That was the fundamental purpose of his everyday real estate life.” She said he was a member of every association that could further that cause. He’d go to any convention, meeting, association or business contact for help.
Robie said one of the best things that happened to Black real estate brokers in Atlanta was then-President John F. Kennedy’s signing in 1962 of an executive order prohibiting discrimination in the sale, leasing or rental of federally funded housing.
Robie was president of the Empire Board of Realtists Inc., a chapter of NAREB, for one year and was considered a mover and shaker in Atlanta business and real estate. He also served many years as board chairman of the Atlanta Business League.
Campbell said during an interview with the AJC about her father last year that Robie had been physically active most of his life, swimming and walking near his West Atlanta home. She thought he lived so long because he loved socializing with people.
“That kept his brain going,” she said. “He was never one to sit and stay home unless it was Sunday.”
Logan said that, later in life, all of his conversations with Robie would eventually lead to one of his four favorite subjects: family, fraternity, farm life and Army service in World War II. It was also apparent that Robie considered his children his greatest achievement, he said.
“Each of his favorite topics of discussion gave him the connections that I believe helped sustain his long life,” Logan said.
Ernie Suggs contributed to this article.
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