Edward Bouchet
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Edward Alexander Bouchet (15 September 1852 – 28 October 1918) was an African American physicist who is most notable for having been the first African American to earn a Ph.D. from an American university. He graduated from Yale University in 1874 (as the first black person to graduate from Yale) and completed his dissertation in Yale's Ph.D. program in 1876. Bouchet spent the rest of his life taking a variety of teaching positions around the country, though he had difficulty finding work due to racial discrimination.
Contents |
[edit] Early life
Edward Bouchet was born in New Haven, Connecticut to parents William and Susan Cooley Bouchet. At that time there were only three schools in New Haven open to black children. Bouchet was enrolled in the Artisan Street Colored School with only one teacher (who nurtured Bouchet's academic abilities). He attended the New Haven High School from 1866-1868 and then Hopkins School from 1868-1870 where he graduated first in his class[1].
[edit] Collegiate career
Edward Bouchet entered Yale in 1870. He graduated summa cum laude[2] and 6th from a class of 124 in 1874. Due to his success, Bouchet was also the first black person to be nominated to Phi Beta Kappa, although he was not elected at the time (George Washington Henderson would be the first elected black member in 1877; Bouchet was not elected until 1884) Bouchet returned to Yale that fall, with the financial support of Philadelphian philanthropist Alfred Cope, to Yale's Ph.D. program. Bouchet completed his dissertation on optics in 1876 entitled "Measuring Refractive Indices." He became the first African-American Ph.D. from an American university and only the sixth American of any race to earn a Ph.D. in physics.[1]
[edit] Later life
Unlike most Ph.D.s of his time, Bouchet was unable to find a university teaching position after college (likely due to discrimination). Bouchet moved to Philadelphia and took a position at the Institute for Colored Youth (ICY). He taught physics and chemistry at the ICY for 26 years[1]. He resigned in 1902 at the height of W.E.B. DuBois' controversy over industrial vs. collegiate education.
Bouchet spent the next 14 years holding a variety of different jobs around the country. Illness finally forced him to retire in 1916 and he moved back to New Haven. He died there, in his childhood home, at age 66. He had been childless and unmarried his entire life.
[edit] Posthumous Honors
September 29, 2006 was declared Edward Bouchet Day in his hometown of New Haven, Connecticut by mayoral proclamation of Mayor John DeStefano, Jr. His alma mater, Hopkins School, also held a celebration in honor of his life and achievements.
