By Rich Otter
Thursday, May 16, 11:33 AM EST

Calvin (Bobby) Woodson Clinkscales was born February 4, 1935, the 10th of 12 children.
Historically, the Clinkscales name goes back to slavery times when ancestors were called the Clinkscales men, or the Clinkscales boys, to identify the owner’s workers.
Bobby's father owned his own mules and was a sharecropper but worked as a carpenter’s helper while his sons farmed the land. As soon as he was able, Clinkscales was working on the farm with his brothers.
He became the first member of his family to graduate from high school. He couldn’t participate in sports until he was in the 11th grade and was making enough money to pay his way in the family. When he made the basketball team, he was able to get tennis shoes and eat a free lunch. He made the football, basketball and baseball teams.
After high school he got a job stocking at Kress’ 5 & 10 and then with the Ziegler and Taylor real estate firm doing janitorial work at the Wil-Mary Apartments. He went into the military ahead of being drafted and started playing baseball during basic training. He ended up playing baseball, football and basketball with service teams, including in Italy and France and even played basketball on a French team with the approval of his commander.
After service, he played baseball in the Western Carolina league. He was the first black player in the league. He received an offer to go on tour with Satchel Page but he had married and his wife was in a family way. He turned it down.
When Mayor Pete Glenn was in office, the city was looking for black police officers. Calvin (Bobby) Clinkscales became the first black police officer to be hired by the city since Reconstruction. He was joined by Randolph Morris. When interviewed he was asked if he was allowed to arrest white people. He told them he would not have taken the job if he couldn’t arrest anyone who had broken the law.
