William Henry Hunt (diplomat)

William Henry Hunt, (1863 - 1951) one of the few black Americans in United States diplomatic corps (foreign service) during the 19th century, began his career in diplomacy as an assistant to Mifflin Wistar Gibbs. William Hunt was Mifflin Gibb's clerk during Gibbs' assignment as United States Consul to Madagascar.

Hunt was born in 1863 during the American Civil War in Tennessee. Through a series of lucky encounters, he became one of three African-American students at Williams College in Massachusetts. William Henry Hunt was married to Ida Alexander Gibbs, the daughter of his mentor, Mifflin Wistar Gibbs. Ida Gibbs (1862-19XX) was educated at Oberlin College and was a friend of W.E.B. DuBois. Ida Gibbs and DuBois worked together on the Pan-African Congresses of the early 20th century.

William Henry Hunt served in the United States diplomatic corps in Madagascar, France, Portugal, Guadeloupe and Liberia. His later career included law and politics in Arkansas.^[1]

References

Bibliography

• A Black Power Couple in the Early 20th Century
• Black Past.org - Ida Alexander Gibbs Hunt
• Oberlin College Archives - photograph of Ida Alexander Gibbs Hunt
• Howard University Archives - William Henry Hunt Papers
• Mixed Race Studies - Parallel Worlds: The Remarkable Gibbs-Hunts and the Enduring (In)significance of Melanin, Adele Logan Alexander, Univ of Virginia Press, February 2010.
• 2010 February 10 - NPR - Husband and Wife Duo Paved the Way for Blacks in Diplomacy
• 2010 May 16 - Washington Post - Book review: Parallel Worlds.