1. Francis Cecil Sumner (1895-1954)

2. Overview Zeitgeist Historical Antecedents Professional Obstacles
Overview of Research Interests
Experiments/Data/Outcomes
Sumner’s Influences
Summary of Presentation

3. “The Spirit of the Times”
Born 1895
30 years after the end of the US Civil War
1 year before the 1896 Plessy v Ferguson decision

4. “The Spirit of the Times” (continued)
Died – January 12th, 1954
Five months before landmark Brown vs. Board of Education decision May 17th, 1954

5. “The Spirit of the Times” (continued)
From only 11 blacks out of 10,000 recipients had earned PhD’s
(and none in Psychology until 1920)

6. Time Line 1892 - The APA is founded by 26 (white) men
Francis Cecil Sumner is the first African American awarded the PhD in psychology (from Clark University)
1928 – Psychology Department is established at Howard University, chaired by Francis Cecil Sumner

7. Personal History and Education
Family and Early Education
Lincoln University ( )

8. Personal History and Education
Clark College ( )
G. Stanley Hall
Accomplishments
Relationship to Sumner

9. Personal History and Education
Lincoln University ( )
1917 received M.A. from Lincoln
Clark University ( )
Military Service ( )
Clark University ( )
June 14th, 1920 Received his PhD in Psychology

10. Personal History and Education
West Virginia Collegiate Institute ( )
Offered a position teaching Psychology and Philosophy at West Virginia Collegiate Institute
Published several articles
Began writing controversial articles and opinions about race and education
Howard University ( )
Established the psychology department and became its chair

11. Obstacles: Childhood Home-Schooled for secondary
Raised under zeitgeist of racial tension

12. Obstacles: Education Rejected from American U. and Illinois
Bittersweet relationship with G. Stanley Hall
Conflicts at Clark University-
WWI-

13. Obstacles: Post-Doctoral
Funding for research
Ostracized from fellow faculty
Unrecognized by the discourse community at large

14. Research Interest
Sumner had at least 45 publications during his career. Some were in:
“Pure” Psychology
“Actual Brightness and Distance of Colors when Apparent Distance is Held Constant”
“Affective Tone of Tactual Impressions”
Applied Psychology
“Measuring the Relevancy of Picture to Copy in Advertising and the Influence of Color on the Legibility of Copy”
Psychology of Religion
“The Mental Hygiene of Religion”

15. Examples of Published Works
“Core and Context in the Drowsy State”(1924)
“Environic Factors which Prohibit Creative Scholarship among Negreos”(1925)

16. Experiments
1931 at Howard University “The Mental Health of White and Negro College Students” Sumner,F.C., Sumner, F.H.
1950 at Howard University “The Persistence of Vocational Preference in Successful Individuals”. Sumner, F.C., Somerville,Addison

17.  
Influences
“I thoroly (sic) believe that if you make of your study of psychology a practical matter you can be of the greatest service to your own people.”
– written to Sumner by Dean James Porter, Clark University (1917)
(as cited in Guthrie, 2004, pp. 219)

18. First Black American to receive a Ph.D. in psychology (1920)
Despite blatant racism and involvement in WWI
Opened the doors of many Black Americans after him

19. Spoke up against inequalities of Black Americans
1918: Sparked controversial debates in his letters to the editor of the Worcester Gazette
Actively protested substandard education and oppression
Probably influenced by W.E.B. DuBois
Americans’ views of Germans as “barbaric, immoral” were actually projection to minimize guilt
W.E.B. DuBois

20. Protested for better education of Black students
Influenced by his own education options
Argued in a more “politically correct” way in the Educational Review
Negro as “culturally inferior” (Sumner, 1927)
This may have been his only choice, considering the Zeitgeist (Sawyer, 2000)

21. Professor at Howard University (1928)
President Johnson at Howard requested him
Responsible for developing Department of Psychology
45 publications during his tenure
By 1972, 300 Ph.D’s had been received by African Americans in psychology - 60 of these had been undergrads or grads in Sumner’s department

22. Howard University, cont.
Kenneth Clark as his student
Kenneth Clark - the “most successful and influential African American psychologist of the 20th century” (Sawyer, 2000, pp. 136)
Howard University’s Department of Psychology still exists today

23. Peer Mentorship
A peer mentorship program was developed in his name at Clark University
Helps students to “enhance self esteem, revitalize interest in the community, and leave their own legacies as Sumner did.” (Francis C. Sumner Mentor Program Homepage, n.d.)

24. In Summary... A Lifetime of Equal Rights
Sumner’s Education through Hardships
Research Interests
Influences …. Even Today