Ernest Everett Just
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ernest Everett Just (1883 - 1941) was a pioneer black U.S. biologist. Just spent his adult life collecting, classifying, and caring for his marine specimens. He believed that scientists should study whole cells under normal conditions, rather than simply breaking them apart in a laboratory setting. Just's primary legacy is his recognition of the fundamental role of the cell surface in the development of organisms. Just's principle biographer is Kenneth Manning, professor of rhetoric at M.I.T.
Contents |
[edit] Early life
Just was born in Charleston, South Carolina in 1883 to parents Charles Frazier and Mary Matthews Just. When he was four years old, his father and grandfather died. Just’s mother, Mary, who became sole supporter of the family, taught at an African-American school in Charleston. In the summers, she did back-breaking work in the phosphate mines on James Island. Noticing that there was much vacant land on the island, Mary eventually persuaded several black families to move there to farm. The town they founded was eventually named Maryville in her honor.
Hoping Just would become a teacher, his mother sent him at age thirteen to an all-black boarding school in Orangeburg, South Carolina. At age sixteen, Just enrolled at a Meriden, New Hampshire college-preparatory high school, Kimball Union Academy. In spite of the fact that he was the only black student at Kimball, Just completed the four-year program in only three years and graduated in 1903 with the highest grades in his class. His mother had died during his second year at Kimball.
Ernest went on to attend Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. He graduated from Dartmouth in 1907 and was the only student [citation needed] who graduated magna cum laude ("with great praise"). Ernest won special honors in botany, history, and sociology and was designated as a Rufus Choate scholar for two years. Earnest also attended the historically black institution now referred to as South Carolina State University in Orangeburg, South Carolina.
[edit] Career
Upon graduation from Dartmouth, Just was appointed to a teaching position at historically-black Howard University in Washington, D.C. In 1908, he was named head of the newly-formed biology department. Just was soon introduced to Dr. Frank R. Lillie, head of the biology department at the University of Chicago. Lillie, who was also chief of the Marine Biology Lab at Woods Hole, Massachusetts, invited Just to spend the summer of 1909 as his research assistant at Woods Hole. For the next twenty years, Just spent every summer but one at Woods Hole.
In 1915, Just took a leave of absence from Howard to enroll in an advanced academic program at the University of Chicago. That same year, Just, who was gaining a national reputation as an outstanding young scientist, was the first recipient of the NAACP's Spingarn Medal in 1915. In 1916, Just received his Ph.D. in experimental embryology, with a thesis on the mechanics of fertilization, from the University of Chicago.
During the next several years, Just became an internationally respected biologist. At Woods Hole, he conducted thousands of experiments studying the fertilization of the marine mammal cell. His work on small water creatures was highly respected by biologists in Europe. In 1922, Just successfully refuted Jacque Loeb’s theory of artificial parthenogenesis. His first book, Basic Methods for Experiments on Eggs of Marine Mammals, was based on his Woods Hole research. Just eventually published more than 50 scientific papers over 20 years based on his research at Woods Hole.
Just, however, became increasingly frustrated because he could not attain an appointment to a major American university. He wanted a position that would provide a steady income and allow him to spend more time with his beloved research. Believing that racial prejudice in his own country was severely restricting him, Just began to spend more and more time in Europe. In 1929, he conducted experiments at a research center in Naples, Italy. Then, in 1930, he became the first American to be invited to the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute in Berlin, Germany, where several Nobel Prize winners conducted research.
Although Just remained employed by Howard University, he spent most of his time in Germany. In 1931, he met a German woman, Hedwid Schnetzler, whom he later married. Beginning in 1934, Just conducted most of his work in Italy and at the Sorbonne in Paris. He moved to France permanently in 1938.
In 1939, Just published his masterwork, The Biology of the Cell Surface, an important work that summarized his life’s work on small marine mammals.
[edit] Death
In 1940 Germany invaded France and Just was imprisoned briefly. He was rescued by the U.S. State Department and returned to his home country. However, Just had been very ill for months prior to his arrest; his condition deteriorated in prison and on the trip home. He was never again well enough to continue his work, and in 1941, Just died of cancer.
[edit] Founding of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity
On November 17, 1911, Just, along with three Howard students (Edgar Amos Love, Oscar John Cooper, and Frank Coleman), established Omega Psi Phi Fraternity. The name Omega Psi Phi was derived from a Greek phrase meaning "friendship is essential to the soul", and became the fraternity's motto. Manhood, scholarship, perseverance, and uplift were adopted as Omega's cardinal principles.
[edit] References
Brown, Mitchell, “Faces of Science: African-American in the Sciences,” 1996. [[1]]
Kessler, James; Kidd, J.S.; Kidd, Renee; and Morin, Katherine A.; Distinguished African-American Scientists of the 20th Century. Oryx Press: Phoenix, AZ, 1996.
McKissack, Patrick and Frederick. African-American Scientists. The Millbrook Press: Brookfield, Connecticut, 1994.
Yount, Lisa. Black Scientists. Facts on File: New York, 1991.
