I am looking for information on the first African American (Black) psychologist in American History. I can not find out who this person is. Any input would be appreciated. Dionne Terrell adelia@ufl.edu

-- Dionne Adelia Terrell (adelia@ufl.edu), November 14, 2001

Answers

According to the APA's "Timeline of Challenge and Progress: The Inclusion of People of Color in Psychology in the United States" (http://www.apa.org/pi/oema/visions/time1.html):

1920 Francis C. Sumner is the first African American awarded the PhD in psychology from a U.S. institution (Clark University); dissertation title: "Psychoanalysis of Freud and Adler." (Guthrie, 1994; Street, 1994).

J. Henry Alston is first African American to publish a research article (titled "Psychophysics of the spatial condition of the fusion of warmth and cold in heat") in an exclusively psychological journal, The American Journal of Psychology (T. C. Cadwallader as cited by Benimoff, 1995). [Though, interestingly, I can find no such article in the PsycInfo database. -cdg-]

1933 Inez B. Prosser is first African American woman awarded a doctorate (EdD) in psychology from a U.S. institution (University of Cincinnati; dissertation title: "Non-academic development of Negro children in mixed and segregated schools" (Guthrie, 1976; Task Force, 1995).

1937 Alberta Banner Turner is first African American woman awarded a PhD in psychology from a U.S. institution (Ohio State University) (Guthrie, 1976; T. C. Cadwallader as cited by Benimoff, 1995).

-- Christopher D. Green (christo@yorku.ca), November 14, 2001.

For additional information, check the wonderful book by Robert V. Guthrie, Even the Rat Was White. It's the best-known history of psychology book focused especially on black psychologists.

-- Hendrika Vande Kemp (hendrika@earthlink.net), November 16, 2001.

No one mentions Dr. W.E.B Dubois

-- Patricia (patrshrtr@aol.com), October 16, 2004.

Patricia,

Although an important figure, it would be difficult to classify DuBois as a psychologist. His education was mainly in history, economics, and politics. His work (as far as I understand it) was not psychological in a sense that would have been recognized by the psychologists of his time. You will note, however, that there is a link to _The Souls of Black Folk_ in the "Classics in the History of Psychology" collection.

-- Christopher Green (cgreen@chass.utoronto.ca), October 16, 2004.

I would also encourage you to consult a copy of Guthrie's "Even the Rat Was White" although he gets a few things wrong. For instance, he identifies Ruth Howard (Beckham) as the first Black woman to receive a PhD degree in Psychology (U. of Minnesota, 1934), but some recent work by Ludy Benjamin indicates that the honor actually belongs to Inez Prosser. Her doctoral degree from the U. of Cincinatti (1933) was a PhD, not an EdD.

-- John D. Hogan (hoganjohn@aol.com), October 17, 2004.