Wesley was born in Ellerbe, N.C., on July 29, 1936. His parents, William and Eularia Robinson Baldwin moved to Graham, N.C., when he was 4. Wesley was a popular, well-rounded student engaging in all the resources offered at the Historical Graham School that served African Americans in Alamance County from 1931-1961. Wesley was an exceptional basketball player from 1950-1954. He was awarded Most Valuable Player for consecutive years. Wesley was competitive, consistently racing in the neighborhood with friends. Unfortunately, there was no organized track program at his school.
After graduating high school, he was off to North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. He majored in physical education and military science. After observing the Track team at practice, Wesley believed that he could compete with the team. His specialty was the 100 and 200-yard sprints.
A highlight of his track career was winning a bronze medal in the sprint medley at the Penn Relays in 1958. He also ran in the Carolina Amateur Athletic Union, where he came in second (9.5 seconds) behind world record holder Dave Sime of Duke University (9.3 seconds). In addition, Wesley ran track at many Historical Black Colleges. In 1958, Wesley was voted the most valuable athlete in track at A&T. He earned a B.S. degree and an ROTC commission in the United States Army in 1959.
He served the United States Military throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia, which included tours in Vietnam. His final assignment was at Fort Meade, Md., retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel. After the military, he was a Federal Executive at the United States Department of Energy, retiring in 1996 with over 37 years of service. He continued to work in several venues, which included as a consultant with Electronic Data Systems and as Secretary of Convention on the Board of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, DC. He has been married for 63 years to Dr. Nettie N. Baldwin and has two children, Angela Baldwin Austin and Wesley Douglas Baldwin.
