[1][2] He worked in the Office of the Supervising Architect of the United States Department of the Treasury and was the first African American man to be employed there.
[6] His paternal grandfather was Vardry McBee, an influential entrepreneur, a white slave holder, and philanthropist of Greenville.
[5] He then returned to Claflin College in order to serve as the superintendent of manual training and industrial arts, replacing Robert Charles Bates.
[5] In March 1907, he took a three-day federal civil service examination in Boston, Massachusetts, as the required workplace admission test at that time was not offered to African-Americans in Washington, D.C..[5] He passed the exams and was hired in the Office of the Supervising Architect of the United States Department of the Treasury.
[5] In 1909, he transferred departments to Field Operations, where he would supervise the construction of federal courthouses and post offices.
[6] After the Wall Street Crash of 1929, he lost his firm and had accrued great debt, to which he was eventually able to repay.
[5] His son in-law was sociologist Ira De Augustine Reid, however Cooke died before the marriage.