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Jessica Harris created a Facebook page concerning Arthur Huff Fauset. Marcella Campos and Sherry Lizama created a tumblr site for Caroline Bond Day. Corina Aguilar and Jazmin Ruelas created a tumblr site for Elliot Skinner. Tamieka Smith and MacKenzie Jones created a tumblr site for Louis Eugene King. Allison created a Facebook page concerning William Montague Cobb.
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Arthur Huff Fauset, born 1899, in Flemmington, New Jersey, was born into a family of two races, and although during a time when this was not accepted and segregation occurred, Fauset never identified with either group. Fauset’s father, Redmon Fauset, was a minister in the African Methodist Church, where his radical views made it hard for him to progress within the church. Redmon Fauset did not have any advanced education himself but still looked for chances to discuss ideas, and topics such as politics and religion. It is quite evident that Arthur Fauset’s father had a strong influence on his future. After the death of his father, Fauset’s mother, Bell a Huff Fauset, carried on the beliefs of her deceased husband onto her children. Bella Huff Fauset was white, and believed in the integration and union within her family, and for all society.
Arthur Fauset carried on his father’s eagerness towards educating himself. After being a successful student at Central Hugh School, he then went to the Philadelphia School of Pedagogy for Men, where he earned his credentials as a teacher, and landed his first position as an elementary teacher in 1918. During this time Alan Locke became Fauset’s mentor and later a close friend who influenced his participation and activism in the Harlem Renaissance and anthropological career. Fauset continued his education, with encouragement from his mother, at the University of Pennsylvania, part time while he continued to teach, in addition to earning his undergraduate degree in 1921. Fauset gave little thought to pursuing a career at University level. He looked for advancement in the school system but due to racial biases he was left with limited options.
Fauset became a part of anthropology, and as a graduate belonged to the American Anthropological Association. Ironically, before doing so Fauset had little interest in anthropology, instead he favored history; he believed intellect didn’t have much to do with his activist work. Later on in his career, he accomplished such work as fieldwork in Nova Scotia and challenged ideas from figures such as Melville Herskovits. Some of Fauset’s accomplishments include: publishing a short story for Crisis, “A Tale of the North Carolina Woods,” prepared two entries for The New Negro, and was asked by Locke to write “American Negro Folk Literature” and “Negro Folk Lore: A Bibliography.” In addition, Fauset belonged to the Philadelphia Anthropology Society, American Folklore Society, and with the help and support form Elsie Clews Parson, Fauset published his PhD on cults of Philadelphia, New York and Chicago, “Black Gods of the Metropolis”.
Prior to his death in 1983, Arthur Huff Fauset paved ways for African American anthropologists, activists, writers, and the community as a whole.
Arthur Fauset Publications:
* For Freedom. Franklin Pub. and Supply Co., 1927.
* Folklore from Nova Scotia, Memoirs of the American Folklore Society, Vol. 24, 1931. Reprint: Corinthian Press, 1988.
* Black Gods of the Metropolis; Negro Religious Cults of the Urban North. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1944. Reprint 1971. Reprinted 2001 (with an introduction by John Szwed and a foreword by Barbara Dianne Savage).
* Sojourner Truth; God's Faithful Pilgrim. Russell & Russell, 1971.
* with Nellie Rathbone Bright: America: Red, White, Black, Yellow. Franklin Pub. and supply Co., 1969.
Citations:
1. Carole H. Carpenter: Arthur Huff Fauset, Campaigner for Social Justice: A Symphony of Diversity. In: African-American Pioneers in Anthropology, Ira E. Harrison and Faye V. Harrison (editors), Urbana, University of Illinois Press, 1999, p 213-242.
2. Wikipedia.org Arthur Fauset < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Fauset>;
3. picture
multimedia link:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=115110151854004&v=app_2373072738#!/group.php?gid=115110151854004&v=info
carolinebondday.tumblr.com
Caroline Bond Day, an intelligent woman, mixed between the following three races: Caucasian, African, and Indian, was born on November 18, 1889. Georgia and Moses Stewart, parents of Caroline Bond Day, were residing in Montgomery, Alabama, where Day was born. After the passing of Bond Day’s father, her mother had remarried to John Day, whom Caroline had taken the last name after. She had two half-siblings, both from her mother’s second marriage. Between the years of 1905 and 1908, Caroline had attended Atlanta University High School, where she received her High School Diploma. Four years later, in 1912 she had accomplished another goal, receiving her Bachelor’s Degree at Atlanta University.
After completing her bachelor’s, Day was able to employ into three different jobs before registering back to school to work towards her masters. First, Day was employed as a YWCA secretary at a relief center for black individuals who needed assistance and counseling after World War I. Second, she was the dean for women at Paul Quinn College, located in Waco, Texas. In addition, also located in Texas, Day was the head of the English department at Prairie View College. While employed at Prairie View College Caroline had met her husband, Aaron Day, who she married on March 1, 1920.
It was in 1919, when Day had gone back to school and attended Radcliffe College, where she had completed her Master Degree in 1932. Between the years of 1919 and 1932, the assumption was made that Day may have been starting her research as early as then considering it had included some nearby relatives from when she was in Texas. Day’s study included the “blood quantification”, which is the study where an individual’s race could possibly be determined (Harrison and Harrison 1998:42). The main purpose of Day’s research was similar to those of many, which is to collect data and record the results on miscegenation, which is then used to possibly form a type of study that could define individuals of “mixed-blood”.
Day had approached her research by examining two individuals, one being Caucasian and the other being African. Collecting data between the two, Day was able to complete her research of race-crossing. She had studied more than 300 different families, however, due to limited time given she was only able to discuss about 45 families. (Harrison and Harrison 1998: 44). In addition, she had listed the life styles and many activities that each families were involved in. This way, Day was able to compare the similarities between individuals of Caucasian background and African background. Many people had different opinions toward Day’s research, and although she did not receive as much support and agreement, she was one of the first African Americans to receive a graduates degree in Anthropology, the study at the time where not many African Americans or women were thought to be capable of becoming an anthropologists (Harrison and Harrison 1998:47). Day had planned to work towards her doctorates, however, she unfortunately experienced bad health. She had suffered from a bad heart condition, which eventually lead to the death of Day on May 5, 1948.
References:
Ardizzone, H. (2006). ‘Such fine families’: photography and race in the work of Caroline Bond Day. Visual Studies, 21(2), 106-132. doi:10.1080/14725860600944971.
Harrison, Ira E., and Faye V. Harrison, eds. African-American Pioneers in Anthropology. New York: University of Illinois P, 1998
http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/
deliver/~pea00032
Pioneer page. Click below.
pioneerelliotskinner.tumblr.com
http://pioneerlek.tumblr.com/
Louis Eugene King was born 1898 in Barbados. King attended Storres College in West Virginia for a year, majoring in pedagogy; the study of being a teacher. He became a teacher and taught for only a year before attending Howard University. At Howard University, King was the editor for the Howard newspaper and eventually renamed the newspaper to The Hilltop; which is still in rotation. While attending Howard, King became the student body president and also the voice for the faculty. After graduating Howard University, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree, King worked as a laboratory assistant to Ernest E. Just. King was accepted to Howard University Medical School in 1924. Shortly after, King dropped out of school and became a history teacher at Grafton, West Virginia for only a year. Following his teaching career King decided to study anthropology at Columbia University in 1925. At Columbia, he worked as a research assistant for Otto Klineberg (who studied on the intelligence scores of black student)and Melville Herskovits (who studied that black culture was not pathological).
Before others started studying blacks, King was the first anthropologist to ever do fieldwork in black communities in the U.S. He did this in assistance to Klineberg and Herskovits’ studies from 1927-1931. For his dissertation, “Negro Life in a Rural Community”, he challenged the intelligence tests validity and he also documented blacks day in and day out while focusing on their relationships, food, and religion etc. He completed his dissertation in 1932, but couldn’t get it published, nor could he get a job anywhere he wanted without his PH.D. In 1932, black education was being suppressed and its teachers were being restricted too. Even Ernest Just had lost his job. King decided to go to Gettysburg and in 1934 was the first black historian hired at its National Military Park. But during World War II he was fired. Then, he got a job in 1942 at the Naval Supply Depot in Pennsylvania. Right before he was about to resign from the job, the commanding officer created a different position for him and made him stay. This officer helped King get his dissertation published with a call to Columbia University in 1965. King sent two daughters to Howard. But became very bitter towards Howard and the whole situation. King retired after 32 years from his federal job and worked at Gettysburg College (1969-1970) “teaching introductory anthropology and courses on black life and culture.” He died August 13, 1981 from asthma and emphysema. Seven black students were granted the Louis E. King Achievement Awards in February 13, 1986 from Gettysburg College in memory of King.
References :
* Ira E. Harrison. Louis Eugene King, the Anthropologist Who Never Was. African-American Pioneers in Anthropology, Ira E. Harrison and Faye V. Harrison (editors), Urbana, University of Illinois Press, 1999, p 70-82.
* Gershenhorn, Jerry, Melville J. Herskovits and the racial politics of knowledge, University Of Nebreska Press ,2004.Print2
* Lambert, Bruce, Otto Klineberg, Who Helped Win ‘54 Desegregation Case, Dies at 92, New York Times, March 10, 1992.Print
IMAGE CITATION:
* Official United States Navy Photograph. Taken from: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8e/Louis_king.jpg
William Montague Cobb was both a doctor of embryology and a physical anthropologist. His work in physical anthropology helped to debunk myths of biological racial difference, and exposed how demographics and social conditions effect the biology of individuals. More than this, Cobb used to his work as means by which to make a social difference through his activist work and the implementation of numerous humanitarian programs.
After completing high school at Dunbar High School in 1921, Cobb continued on with his education at Amherst College. Upon graduating from Amherst, Cobb received a scholarship for his work in biology to study at Woods Hole Marine Biology Laboratory where he studied embryology. In 1929, Cobb received his M.D. from Howard University Medical School. Not long after his graduation, Cobb began to do work in physical anthropology with Dr. T. Wingate Todd. Todd’s work at the time was forward thinking and greatly influenced the work of Cobb. In particular, Todd ‘s studies served as empirical evidence for the absence of racial factors in brain development, and demonstrated that environmental factors in some brain development studies of smaller samples were being over generalized to the entire black population. In 1932, Cobb received his Ph.D for his anatomical and anthropological work with Todd.
In Cobb’s career as an anthropologist, he did several things that were unique and pivotal. First and foremost, Cobb was the first to take a demographic approach to physical anthropology, which exposed how the institutional conditions of racism effects the health of populations. Also, Cobb worked on a famous study on the anatomy of black athletes, including runner Jesse Owens. Here he used anthropometric standards of measurement, established by Todd and Lindala. Cobb found that there were no significant differences to support the hypothesis of racial determinism, but that training was the most important factor in an athlete’s success.
Along with his legacy as an anthropologist, Cobb also left one of a humanitarian activist. He published numerous works in academic journals about the social conditions which influenced the physical health of oppressed groups. He worked to implement the Imhotep National Conferences on Hospital Integration, inspired by his original demographic work. He also served as presidents, vice presidents, editors and chairs on numerous influential committees, including the National Medical Association, where he fought for equality.
Cobb has over 1,000 publications. Here is only a small sampling of his work:
“Human Archives” 1932
“The Cranio-Facial Union in Man” 1940
“Cranio-Facial Union in the Maxillary Tuber in Mammals” 1943a
“Suture Closure as a Biological Phenomenon” 1957b
“Human Variation: Informing the Public” 1988
References:
1. Rankin-Hill, Lesley M. and Blakey, Michael L. “W. Montague Cobb: Physical Anthropologist, Anatomist, and Activist”. Harrison, Ira E. and Harrison, Faye V. eds. African-American Pioneers in Anthropology. University of Illinois Press. 1999. 102-136.
2. Lear, Walter J. “William Montague Cobb: Medical Professor, Civil Rights Activist”. American Journal of Public Health 92: (2). Feb 2002. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1447039/ Apr 2010.
Multimedia Link:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/William-Montague-Cobb/122704287742940
http://hubertbross.tumblr.com/
http://hubertbross.tumblr.com/
Hubert Barnes Ross was born in Boston, Massachusetts on April 2, 1918. His family were well educated, but due to financial problems their education was cut short. After his mother’s death, Ross moved to his Aunt’s home, where he grew up with a diverse community. Ross had an interest in anthropology and attended Yale University to follow his passion. When in school, he grew an interest to anthropologists, such as St. Clair Drake and W.E.B Du Bois. While attending college at Yale University, Ross lived within the community, so transportation was easier. From there, he was able to save money. With the money he had saved he was able to take classes with sociologists and anthropologists that inspired him. From the knowledge that Ross had gained, he felt that anthropology “appeared less racist than the other social sciences.” (Harrison & Harrison 1999: 267) In order to continue to save money Ross took a year off from school to join the Army Corps of Engineers. When he returned to school, Ross had saved enough money to pursue his Master’s Degree in Sociology. Since Ross was unsure of what he wanted to do with his degree, he went to Columbia University to continue his education in anthropology. Linguist Joseph Greenberg, a Professor at Columbia University, ignited Ross’ interest for anthropology again. With a new inspiration for anthropology, Ross enrolled in two anthropology classes—cultural and physical.
After graduate school, Ross married Edith Mae Lively, a social worker. With a growing family, Ross moved to New Haven to support his family. In order to support his family, he worked in a factory. While working on his dissertation, he wanted to share his thesis with the rest of the world, but he was denied of an appearance. “Ross’ dissertation, ‘The Diffusion of Manioc Plant from South America to Africa: An Essay in Ethnobotanical Culture History’ (1954), is a pioneering work that employs comparative, historiographic, botanical, archaeological, and linguistic data to reconstruct the diffusion of the manihot esculenta plant from South America to Africa.” (Harrison & Harrison 1990: 269) Southern Americans realized this diet is plausible. Ross used a variety of flowers on ships that traveled around the world. The manioc that people were consuming in South America became an adaptive diet between the country of West and Central Africa. Dr. Ross received his Doctorate of Anthropology in 1954 and was an assistant professor of sociology, while teaching about sociology and history. Dr. Ross became a full time professor of anthropology in 1969 while serving as a chair of the department of sociology and anthropology. He wrote many articles and book reviews. Dr. Ross was the director of the Atlanta Project Association for the study of Afro American Life and History, Principal Investigator for an ethnographic study of Hancock County, Georgia and an editor of African correspondence of Claude A. Barnett.
Dr. Ross’ life ended at age seventy-five from a heart attack on March 9th, 2005. Dr. Ross was able to influence future generations of African American students with Anthropology.
Laurence Foster was born on February 3, 1903 in Pensacola, Fl. He graduated from Millers Ferry Normal School in 1922. He received his bachelor's from Lincoln University, an all Black school in Oxford, Pennsylvania. He also received an degree from the Theological Seminary at Lincoln at about the same time. He received numerous scholarships one of which was a university scholarship in anthropology from 1927-1929. While Dr. Foster accomplished many things that were worthy, he also suffered institutional and cultural racism. More specifically the idea of the day was whether blacks were able to compete amongst their white counterparts.Majority of his work was critiqued by his white counterparts who thought that his work wasn't as brilliant or noteworthy of such. He later received his PhD in Anthropology Stowe Teachers College of St. Louis. He focused on anthropological studies he studies how Blacks influenced American Indians as this was much left out of the history textbooks. His thesis encompassing how Blacks had culturally and physically altered the lives of American Indians in places like the Caribbean, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, etc.A lot of his research depended on race identity; such as determining someone’s racial background by their amount of blood from one parental side(s). Foster wanted to demonstrate how American Indians and Blacks co-existed and influenced each other.His study also demonstrated how American Indian and Black interactions had a direct connection with Euro-American values and ideology of racism (Harrison, 1999, pg. 92) In this study he also concluded that the “race-complex has been responsible for the cultural separation of two groups that had historically been linked by their desire for the same thing-freedom” (Harrison, 1999, pg. 94) Essentially, Dr. Foster focused on the liberation and education of African American people dispelling notion of inferiority and promoting concrete evidence of excellence among African American people.
" The Alienation of Negro intellectuals from the white world has gone far and bitterness against the white has become intense" (Foster, 1969, seminar).
Accomplishments
* PhD, Stowe Teachers College
* Associate Dean - Cheyney State College
*
Published Works
* A Short History of Greece (edited), A History of the Civilization of India (edited) and The History of Education (1936)
* The Functions of a Graduate School in a Democratic Society (1936)
* Introduction to American Government (1952)
* Reading on the American Way (1953)
* Analysts of Social Problems (1954)
* Introduction to Sociology (1954)
Activism
Director of Research Council for the National Protestant Council on Higher Education (1953), a fellow in the American Folklore Society, a member of the Executive Committee of the International Academy of Physical Anthropology, president of Stearns Housing Corporation, chairman of the board of the Model Cities Foundation in Philadelphia/New York, executive director for the Pennsylvania State Temporary Commission on Conditions of the Urban Colored Population
* He improved the Seminary curriculum (1943)
* He improved the Liberal Arts curriculum at Lincoln University (1941-1960)
* He established a Medical College at Lincoln University (1963)
* He implemented a program "Learning how to Learn" (1969)
References
* Harrison, Ira E., and Faye V. Harrison, eds. African-American Pioneers in Anthropology. New York: University of Illinois P, 1998
St. Clair Drake was born January 2, 1911 in Suffolk, Virginia to Bessie Lee Bowles Drake and the Reverend John Gibbs St. Clair Drake. He attended the Hampton Institute in high school and went on to attend college at the University of Chicago. At this university he worked with sociologist W. Lloyd Warner. He became interested in a study called the "deep south." He also worked on the book, "Black Folk Here and There." The purpose of the project was to carry out an analysis of values and symbols that emerged within Black communities dealing with Black Diaspora and to relate them to a process called coping. St. Clair Drake later became a professor at Roosevelt University where he was one of the first Black teachers and was also one of the first people to create an African American studies programs, both at Roosevelt and Stanford. Drake also worked at many other Universities such as Dillard University in New Orleans and universities in Liberia and Ghana. St. Clair Drake is known for developing many training programs for Peace Corps volunteers assigned to African countries. St. Clair Drake was known for his strong belief that social sciences had a huge impact on the issue of race and that it could allow changes that were needed. He was also very interested in understanding patterns of racial domination and resistance in the Black experience. This is why many of St. Clair’s writings dealt with the advances in race relations. Along with Horace R. Clayton Jr. he published, "Black Metropolis" which was basically created to study of race and urban life and the book basically focused on Blacks in Northern cities particularly the poverty and discrimination in the south side of Chicago. This book was created in 1943. This book had a huge impact on many future scholars and anthropologist to come. St. Clair Drake was a member and the founder of the American Society of African Culture and the American Negro Leadership Conference on Africa. He also was the advisor to one of the prime ministers of Ghana. He later resigned due to Ghana receiving military dictators. St. Clair Drake died in January of the year 1990. He survived through his wife Elizabeth Dewey Johns (daughter), Dr. Sandra Drake (wife) and his son Karl. In his lifetime he received many awards and one of them was the ASA Cox-Johnson-Frazier Award in 1973.
Publications:
Black Metropolis, 1943.
Black Folk Here and There, 1987.
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Clair_Drake
Image website: http://chicagotribute.org/Markers/Drake.htm
African-American Pioneers in Anthropology, Ira E. Harrison and Faye V. Harrison (editors), Urbana, University of Illinois Press, 1999. Pp. 26-34.
Here's our multimedia link for our Laurence Foster myspace page.
Hugh Heyne Smythe was born on August 19, 1913 in Pittsburg, PA. Twenty-three years later he graduated from Virginia State College with a BA in Sociology; the next year he had a Masters Degree in sociology from Atlanta University, and in late July of 1936 he married his wife Mabel H. Murphy who joined him in his diplomatic escapade to fight for civil rights and equality for African Americans as well as other minority groups in America, as well as in other countries over the world. Both Mr. and Mrs. Smythe worked eagerly, and in different styles, to terminate de jure, and de facto injustice. Topics of their articles, speeches, memos, and books include African American affairs as well as such in Thailand and Japan. Their quintessential ideas encompass racism, the fight for equality, improvement in healthcare and economical circumstances, education (and the relationship to school segregation), and the government’s role in civil rights and liberties reaching all individuals; as well as, articles on social stratification, changes, and urbanization-particularly in Japan, Thailand, China, and Africa.
Before Dr. Smythe began his teaching career, he was a research assistant to W.E.B DuBois on Negro Land Grant College Cooperative Social Studies project at Atlanta University Gerogia. In 1945 Dr. Smythe earned his PhD in Anthropology at Northwestern University and he taught as a professor at Tennessee Agricultural and Industrial University, and Brooklyn College of the city of New York. He was a visiting professor at Yamaguchi National University in Japan, and was considered Fulbright Professor at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand. From 1947-1949 Smythe was the assistant director in the Department of Special research for the NAACP where he worked towards equality and civil rights for African Americans throughout America. Smythe was also the Ambassador of the Syrian-Arab Republic in 1965 as well as the ambassador of Malta in 1967-69.
“Teaching in Japan in the early 1950s had a profound influence in expanding their worldview regarding the individual in the context of society and culture, and the theme of multiculturalism runs throughout their professional careers”(Library of Congress. June 10, 2009).
Selected Publications: The concept of "Jim Crow." Social Forces 27(1):45-48 (1949); Race and nationality from a sociological point of view. Midwest Journal 2(1):41-45 (1949);
Changing patterns in Negro leadership.Social Forces 29(2):191-197 (1950);
The Eta: a marginal Japanese caste. American Journal of Sociology 58(2): 194-196 (1952);
Social stratification in Nigeria. Social Forces 37(2):168-171 (1958);
Social change in Africa. American Journal of Economics & Sociology 19(2):193-206 (1960);
Urbanization in Nigeria. Anthropological Quarterly 33(3):143-148 (1960);
The New Nigerian Elite (co-authored with Mabel M. Smythe, 1960).
multimedia link:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001025274061&ref=profile&v=info#!/profile.php?id=100001025274061&v=info&ref=profile
St. Clair Drake was born January 2, 1911 in Suffolk, Virginia to Bessie Lee Bowles Drake and the Reverend John Gibbs St. Clair Drake. He attended the Hampton Institute in high school and went on to attend college at the University of Chicago. At this university he worked with sociologist W. Lloyd Warner. He became interested in a study called the "deep south." He also worked on the book, "Black Folk Here and There." The purpose of the project was to carry out an analysis of values and symbols that emerged within Black communities dealing with Black Diaspora and to relate them to a process called coping. St. Clair Drake later became a professor at Roosevelt University where he was one of the first Black teachers and was also one of the first people to create an African American studies programs, both at Roosevelt and Stanford. Drake also worked at many other Universities such as Dillard University in New Orleans and universities in Liberia and Ghana. St. Clair Drake is known for developing many training programs for Peace Corps volunteers assigned to African countries. St. Clair Drake was known for his strong belief that social sciences had a huge impact on the issue of race and that it could allow changes that were needed. He was also very interested in understanding patterns of racial domination and resistance in the Black experience. This is why many of St. Clair’s writings dealt with the advances in race relations. Along with Horace R. Clayton Jr. he published, "Black Metropolis" which was basically created to study of race and urban life and the book basically focused on Blacks in Northern cities particularly the poverty and discrimination in the south side of Chicago. This book was created in 1943. This book had a huge impact on many future scholars and anthropologist to come. St. Clair Drake was a member and the founder of the American Society of African Culture and the American Negro Leadership Conference on Africa. He also was the advisor to one of the prime ministers of Ghana. He later resigned due to Ghana receiving military dictators. St. Clair Drake died in January of the year 1990. He survived through his wife Elizabeth Dewey Johns (daughter), Dr. Sandra Drake (wife) and his son Karl. In his lifetime he received many awards and one of them was the ASA Cox-Johnson-Frazier Award in 1973.
Publications:
Black Metropolis, 1943.
Black Folk Here and There, 1987.
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Clair_Drake
Image website: http://chicagotribute.org/Markers/Drake.htm
African-American Pioneers in Anthropology, Ira E. Harrison and Faye V. Harrison (editors), Urbana, University of Illinois Press, 1999. Pp. 26-34.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001021705827&ref=profile&v=info
April 29, 2010 10:41 AM
St. Clair Drake was born January 2, 1911 in Suffolk, Virginia to Bessie Lee Bowles Drake and the Reverend John Gibbs St. Clair Drake. He attended the Hampton Institute in high school and went on to attend college at the University of Chicago. At this university he worked with sociologist W. Lloyd Warner. He became interested in a study called the "deep south." He also worked on the book, "Black Folk Here and There." The purpose of the project was to carry out an analysis of values and symbols that emerged within Black communities dealing with Black Diaspora and to relate them to a process called coping. St. Clair Drake later became a professor at Roosevelt University where he was one of the first Black teachers and was also one of the first people to create an African American studies programs, both at Roosevelt and Stanford. Drake also worked at many other Universities such as Dillard University in New Orleans and universities in Liberia and Ghana. St. Clair Drake is known for developing many training programs for Peace Corps volunteers assigned to African countries. St. Clair Drake was known for his strong belief that social sciences had a huge impact on the issue of race and that it could allow changes that were needed. He was also very interested in understanding patterns of racial domination and resistance in the Black experience. This is why many of St. Clair’s writings dealt with the advances in race relations. Along with Horace R. Clayton Jr. he published, "Black Metropolis" which was basically created to study of race and urban life and the book basically focused on Blacks in Northern cities particularly the poverty and discrimination in the south side of Chicago. This book was created in 1943. This book had a huge impact on many future scholars and anthropologist to come. St. Clair Drake was a member and the founder of the American Society of African Culture and the American Negro Leadership Conference on Africa. He also was the advisor to one of the prime ministers of Ghana. He later resigned due to Ghana receiving military dictators. St. Clair Drake died in January of the year 1990. He survived through his wife Elizabeth Dewey Johns (daughter), Dr. Sandra Drake (wife) and his son Karl. In his lifetime he received many awards and one of them was the ASA Cox-Johnson-Frazier Award in 1973.
Publications:
Black Metropolis, 1943.
Black Folk Here and There, 1987.
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Clair_Drake
Image website: http://chicagotribute.org/Markers/Drake.htm
African-American Pioneers in Anthropology, Ira E. Harrison and Faye V. Harrison (editors), Urbana, University of Illinois Press, 1999. Pp. 26-34.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001021705827&ref=profile&v=info
April 29, 2010 10:41 AM
http://www.loc.gov/rr/mss/text/smythe.
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/h?faid/faid:@field%28DOCID+ms001042%29
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/h?faid/faid:@field%28DOCID+ms001042%29
http://www.aaanet.org/sections/aba/htdocs/Pioneers.html
http://www.loc.gov/rr/mss/text/smythe.
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/h?faid/faid:@field%28DOCID+ms001042%29
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/h?faid/faid:@field%28DOCID+ms001042%29
http://www.aaanet.org/sections/aba/htdocs/Pioneers.html
http://www.loc.gov/rr/mss/text/smythe.
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/h?faid/faid:@field%28DOCID+ms001042%29
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/h?faid/faid:@field%28DOCID+ms001042%29
http://www.aaanet.org/sections/aba/htdocs/Pioneers.html
http://hubertbross.tumblr.com/
Hubert Barnes Ross was born in Boston, Massachusetts on April 2, 1918. His family were well educated, but due to financial problems their education was cut short. After his mother’s death, Ross moved to his Aunt’s home, where he grew up with a diverse community. Ross had an interest in anthropology and attended Yale University to follow his passion. When in school, he grew an interest to anthropologists, such as St. Clair Drake and W.E.B Du Bois. While attending college at Yale University, Ross lived within the community, so transportation was easier. From there, he was able to save money. With the money he had saved he was able to take classes with sociologists and anthropologists that inspired him. From the knowledge that Ross had gained, he felt that anthropology “appeared less racist than the other social sciences.” (Harrison, Ira E. 1999: 267) In order to continue to save money Ross took a year off from school to join the Army Corps of Engineers. When he returned to school, Ross had saved enough money to pursue his Master’s Degree in Sociology. Since Ross was unsure of what he wanted to do with his degree, he went to Columbia University to continue his education in anthropology. Linguist Joseph Greenberg, a Professor at Columbia University, ignited Ross’ interest for anthropology again. With a new inspiration for anthropology, Ross enrolled in two anthropology classes—cultural and physical.
After graduate school, Ross married Edith Mae Lively, a social worker. With a growing family, Ross moved to New Haven to support his family. In order to support his family, he worked in a factory. While working on his dissertation, he wanted to share his thesis with the rest of the world, but he was denied of an appearance. “Ross’ dissertation, ‘The Diffusion of Manioc Plant from South America to Africa: An Essay in Ethnobotanical Culture History’ (1954), is a pioneering work that employs comparative, historiographic, botanical, archaeological, and linguistic data to reconstruct the diffusion of the manihot esculenta plant from South America to Africa.” (Harrison, Ira E.1990: 269) Southern Americans realized this diet is plausible. Ross used a variety of flowers on ships that traveled around the world. The manioc that people were consuming in South America became an adaptive diet between the country of West and Central Africa. Dr. Ross received his Doctorate of Anthropology in 1954 and was an assistant professor of sociology, while teaching about sociology and history. Dr. Ross became a full time professor of anthropology in 1969 while serving as a chair of the department of sociology and anthropology. He wrote many articles and book reviews. Dr. Ross was the director of the Atlanta Project Association for the study of Afro American Life and History, Principal Investigator for an ethnographic study of Hancock County, Georgia and an editor of African correspondence of Claude A. Barnett.
Dr. Ross’ life ended at age seventy-five from a heart attack on March 9th, 2005. Dr. Ross was able to influence future generations of African American students with Anthropology.
References:
Harrison, I. (1998). Hubert B. Ross The Anthropologist Who Was. African-American Pioneers in Anthropology (pp. 265-273). Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
carolinebondday.tumblr.com
Caroline Bond Day, an intelligent woman, mixed between the following three races: Caucasian, African, and Indian, was born on November 18, 1889. Georgia and Moses Stewart, parents of Caroline Bond Day, were residing in Montgomery, Alabama, where Day was born. After the passing of Bond Day’s father, her mother had remarried to John Day, whom Caroline had taken the last name after. She had two half-siblings, both from her mother’s second marriage. Between the years of 1905 and 1908, Caroline had attended Atlanta University High School, where she received her High School Diploma. Four years later, in 1912 she had accomplished another goal, receiving her Bachelor’s Degree at Atlanta University.
After completing her bachelor’s, Day was able to employ into three different jobs before registering back to school to work towards her masters. First, Day was employed as a YWCA secretary at a relief center for black individuals who needed assistance and counseling after World War I. Second, she was the dean for women at Paul Quinn College, located in Waco, Texas. In addition, also located in Texas, Day was the head of the English department at Prairie View College. While employed at Prairie View College Caroline had met her husband, Aaron Day, who she married on March 1, 1920.
It was in 1919, when Day had gone back to school and attended Radcliffe College, where she had completed her Master Degree in 1932. Between the years of 1919 and 1932, the assumption was made that Day may have been starting her research as early as then considering it had included some nearby relatives from when she was in Texas. Day’s study included the “blood quantification”, which is the study where an individual’s race could possibly be determined (Ross et. al.1998:42). The main purpose of Day’s research was similar to those of many, which is to collect data and record the results on miscegenation, which is then used to possibly form a type of study that could define individuals of “mixed-blood”.
Day had approached her research by examining two individuals, one being Caucasian and the other being African. Collecting data between the two, Day was able to complete her research of race-crossing. She had studied more than 300 different families, however, due to limited time given she was only able to discuss about 45 families. (Ross et. al. 1998: 44). In addition, she had listed the life styles and many activities that each families were involved in. This way, Day was able to compare the similarities between individuals of Caucasian background and African background. Many people had different opinions toward Day’s research, and although she did not receive as much support and agreement, she was one of the first African Americans to receive a graduates degree in Anthropology, the study at the time where not many African Americans or women were thought to be capable of becoming an anthropologists (Ross et al. 1998:47). Day had planned to work towards her doctorates, however, she unfortunately experienced bad health. She had suffered from a bad heart condition, which eventually lead to the death of Day on May 5, 1948.
References:
Ardizzone, H. (2006). ‘Such fine families’: photography and race in the work of Caroline Bond Day. Visual Studies, 21(2), 106-132. doi:10.1080/14725860600944971.
Ross, Hubert; Adams, Amelia and Williams, Lynn “Caroline Bond Day: Pioneer Black Anthropologist”. Harrison, Ira E. and Harrison, Faye V. eds. African-American Pioneers in Anthropology. University of Illinois Press. 1999. 37-50.
Katherine Dunham was born in Chicago in 1909. She and her brother were the only kids born to her mother, Fanny June Taylor Dunham and father, Albert Millard Dunham. From the beginning Dunham was made aware of cultural, class and racial difference as her parents came from very different backgrounds. Her mother came from French Canadian, Indian and African ancestry while her father was a descendant of enslaved people from Madagascar and West Africa.
Dunham was always naturally interested in performance, theater and dance. As a girl, her first experience of being appreciated on stage was when she organized a cabaret for church and was met with high praise from the audience. Later, she continued her knack for seeking out her interests by sneaking out to find elements of underground black theater in Chicago. After her mother died, the Dunham family began living with relatives of her father. Often she would sneak out with her cousins to find basement rehearsals and see vaudeville shows at the Monogram and Grand Theaters.
Later in the early years of her academic life, Dunham was exposed to more theater and black artist elites through the experimental Cube Theater which was also founded by her brother. She was finally introduced to anthropology and began exploring ideas of dance as sacred and social. She met people such as A.R. Radcliff-Brown, Fay Cooper- Cole and Bronislaw Malinowski.
Her furthered interest in dance and culture and her ability to impress people at the top of her fields through her profound work, carried her into another area of her life: fieldwork. She went on to study the West Indies and produced works such as “Journey to Accompong, and “Island Possessed.” Dunham has been acknowledged as having a profound ability in her Anthropological work to produce quality ethnographic descriptions as well as convey her deep understanding of cultural meanings through her art work. She has been credited with having a major influence on African American dancers to continue their work. She has also been a positive contributor to low income communities in St. Louise. She was instrumental in bringing social scientists, musicians and education specialists together to create a liberal arts curriculum that many students have since benefitted from.
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