Dr. Earle Taylor Hawkins was born in Churchville, MD in 1903 to Mr. and Mrs. Philip Hopkins Hawkins. In 1919 he began his time at Western Maryland College (now McDaniel College), where he joined the Irving Literary Society and graduated Suma Cum Laude in 1923 with a Bachelors of Arts in Music. After graduating from the graduate program in Education at Columbia University he continued his education, taking summer classes at Yale, and eventually graduating from Yale with a Doctorate in Philosophy.

After finishing his Masters Degree at Columbia, he became Vice Principal of Bel Air High School in 1927, spent a year as principal of the Chesapeake City School in 1928, and then returned to his post at Bel Air High School, this time as Principal, from 1929 until autumn of 1938. On September 1st, 1938, Dr. Hawkins began his work as the Maryland State Supervisor of High Schools. During this time he helped overhaul the state high school curriculum and developed a survey of Maryland high schools. He held this position until he was named President of the State Teacher’s College in 1947.

Dr. Hawkins was also involved in many different clubs and organizations up to and through his tenure at Towson. In 1922 he graduated from the Reserve Officer Training Corps, qualifying as a Marksman and in 1943 he joined Alpha Rho chapter of Phi Delta Kappa at Johns Hopkins University. He was also President of the Harford County Society of Baltimore City, Vice-President of the National Education Association (NEA), the chief of the Division of Education of the Civilian Mobilization Committee, chairman of the NEA’s Committee on Citizenship, President of the Association of State Colleges and Universities, and Vice President and President of the Towson Chamber of Commerce. He was also a member of the Governor’s Committee to Evaluate Community College Construction Guidelines, the Maryland Historical Society, the Committee on Supervision of the National Council of Teachers of English, the Board of the Central Atlantic Area Council of the YMCA, and the Bel Air branch of the Automobile Club of Maryland.

Amidst all of his other commitments, Dr. Hawkins also found time for some personal pleasures and hobbies. A man dedicated to his work in education, Dr. Hawkins was a bachelor until 1951 when he married Juanita Maxine Greer. He was also an avid musician, becoming Vice President, Organist and Choir Director of the Christian Endeavour Society at the Churchville Presbyterian Church in 1933. As Principal of Bel Air High School he also ran the Glee Club and worked very closely with the drama department, directing many of the plays they put on during his time there. He was also interested in art, particularly the photographs of Maryland photographer A. Aubrey Bodine. Many of Mr. Bodine’s photographs appeared in the Baltimore Sun and the Sunday Sun Magazine, and Dr. Hawkins collected these images as they appeared in the newspaper.

Dr. Hawkins was also fond of word games and puzzles, which he would frequently send along with letters to his more familiar correspondents. In 1944 Dr. Hawkins temporarily donated his collection of puzzles to be put on display at the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore. Dr. Hawkins was also very fascinated with trains and kept many clippings and pamphlets focused on the B and O Railroad and other railroads and train stations. In 1939 Dr. Hawkins attended the World’s Fair in New York City and brought back souvenirs from the Railroads Conference exhibits. He also visited every state in the union as well as countries in Asia, Western Europe, Africa, the Caribbean, and Latin America. When Hawkins left the presidential home on campus at his retirement, he and Juanita had to auction off around 600 items they had collected from their travels, so all their belongings might fit into a smaller apartment.