Francis Sumner

For the English mill owner and mayor of Glossop, see Francis Sumner (mayor).
Francis Cecil Sumner
Born December 7, 1895
Pine Bluff, Arkansas, U.S.
Died January 12, 1954 (aged 58)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Residence Austria, (later) England
Nationality American
Ethnicity African-American
Alma mater Lincoln University
Clark University
Known for Psychoanalysis/ First African American to receive a Ph.D in Psychology
Spouse(s) Frances HoustonDivorced Nettie M Broker 1946-

Francis Cecil Sumner (December 7, 1895 - January 12, 1954) was a pivotal leader in education reform. He is primarily known for being the first African American to receive a Ph.D in psychology.[1] Francis Sumner was the first African-American to receive an earned doctorate in any American university.[2] He worked closely with Hall during his time at Clark, and his dissertation—published in Pedagogical Seminary, which later became the Journal of Genetic Psychology—focused on "Psychoanalysis of Freud and Adler." [3]

Early life

Francis Cecil Sumner was born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas on December 7, 1895. He was the second son of David Alexander and Ellen Lillian Sumner and younger brother to Eugene Sumner.[4]

Education

Sumner received his elementary education in Norfolk, Virginia, and Plainfield, New Jersey. Sumner then proceeded to self-educate himself, with much help from his parents, of whom were self-educated. His parents gave him many assignments to do, which consisted of many days of intense reading and writing. To buy the school books necessary, his parents would work extra hours. At the time, most secondary schools would not accept females and minorities.[5] Sumner’s applications to schools would read “private instruction in secondary subjects by father.[6]

In 1911 at the age of 15, Sumner passed a written test to gain acceptance into Lincoln University. Sumner graduated from Lincoln College magnum cum laude in English, Greek, Latin, and philosophy in 1915.[7] Sumner then went to Clark University in 1916 and in the fall he received his 2nd Bachelor's Degree in English. He then returned to Lincoln University as a graduate student and as a teacher of psychology and German, After receiving his M.A. in 1917. Clark was awarded a senior scholarship when[5] he then returned to Clark University where Hall approved his application for a Ph.D. Sumner was drafted by the United States Military in 1918 to 1919. He was sent to Camp Meade Maryland for basic training with the 48th Company, 154 Depot Brigade. After than Sumner remained in France until he was discharged in the middle of 1919. After his doctoral dissertation entitled "Psychoanalysis of Freud and Adler" was accepted he received his Doctorate degree from Clark University on June 14, 1920, making him the first African-American to ever receive a Ph.D in the field of psychology. While at Lincoln Sumner developed close relationships with President Stanley Hall, and Dean of Psychology James P. Porter, the latter being seen as a force behind his decision to choose psychology as graduate program. Sumner continue to intensely read, and at one point thought of becoming a writer, of which he did later on, and in his manuscript "Sumner recalled the support and guidance given to him by Hall at Clark" (Guthrie, 1998)

Career

Upon his graduation Sumner accepted a professor position at Wilberforce University in the fall of 1920. While at Wilberforce, Sumner was a professor of psychology and philosophy.[7] And in the summer of 1921 he went to teach at Southern University in Louisiana, a HBCU. In fall of 1921 he accepted a position at West Virginia Collegiate Institute, where he wrote many articles dealing with the state of colleges and acceptance of African-Americans or the lack thereof. Sumner used these articles to support and raise awareness for the views brought up by Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Dubois[8]. He remained for the next 7 years. Sumner resigned from West Virginia Collegiate Institute on August 31, 1928. He then moved on to Howard University in the fall of 1928, and became the acting chairman and professor, until 1930 upon which time he became the fully appointed chair of Psychology and succeeded in making the department independent from Philosophy. Sumner held the position until he died on January 12, 1954.[9][10]
In an attempt to show support and praise for the excellence of his students, Sumner created an incentive program. This award was given to one of his psychology students who submitted the most superlative essay on a specific theme. One recipient of this award was Kenneth Bancroft Clark. Kenneth Clark was the first African American president of the APA. He went on to study race psychology and used his research on prejudice, discrimination, and segregation in the developing child in the famous Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education.[7]

Sumner had at least 45 publication throughout his career. His interest in applied psychology led to multiple publications on color and vision. Sumner’s primary focus was in the psychology of religion. He gave a paper to the International Congress of Religious Psychology (Vienna). The paper was on “The Mental Hygiene of Religion.”[5]
Another of Sumner’s notable achievements was his work with the Journal of Social Psychology and the Psychological Bulletin. For years he was the official abstractor for both journals. He began writing the abstracts in 1946, between the years 1948 and 1949 he wrote 505 abstracts. Sumner wrote over 2,000 abstracts during his time with these two journals. Most of the abstracts he wrote were from French and German authors, others were Russian, Spanish, and English. It was Sumner’s fluency in these languages that enabled him to make this contribution.[5]
Sumner was always described as motivating and encouraging (Bayton, 1975). Kenneth Clark once stated, “And he didn’t just teach psychology. He taught integrity. And, although he led the way for other Blacks in psychology, Sumner would permit no nonsense about there being anything like “Black psychology” -any more than he would have allowed any nonsense about “Black astronomy.” In this and many other ways, Sumner was a model for me. In fact, he has always been my standard when I evaluate myself.”[11]

Personal life

Sumner married Francees H. Hughston in 1922, the marriage ended in divorce. He then married Nettie M. Broker in 1946. No children were a product of either relationship.

Death

Dr. Francis Cecil Sumner died of a heart attack outside his home in Washington D.C. on January 12, 1954. Many students described Dr. Sumner as a "low keyed and very dedicated"; as a very quiet and very unassuming individual who was brilliant with tremendous capacity to make an analysis of an individual's gestalt"; and as "Howard's most stimulating scholar" (Guthrie, 1998, p. 229).

References

  1. ↑ "Francis Cecil Sumner: his views and influence on African American higher education". Hist Psychol 3 (2): 122–41. May 2000. PMID 11624469.
  2. ↑ http://psychology.okstate.edu/museum/afroam/bio.html
  3. ↑ http://www.powershow.com/view/33db1-ODYwZ/Francis_Cecil_Sumner_18951954
  4. ↑ http://www.psychology-lexicon.com/cms/glossary/glossary-f/francis-cecil-sumner.html
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Bayton, J (1975). "Francis Sumner, Max Meenes, and the Training of Black Psychologists". American Psychologist: 185–186.
  6. ↑ Bayton, F (1975). "Sumner’s applications would read “private instruction in secondary subjects by father". American Psychologist: 185–186.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Sawyer, T (2000). "Francis Cecil Sumner: His views and influence on African American higher education". History of Psychology 3 (2): 122–141.
  8. ↑ "Personal Biography".
  9. ↑ http://www.indiana.edu/~histpsy/abstracts.html
  10. ↑ http://www.earlham.edu/~knigher/Professional%20Biography.htm
  11. ↑ Hergenhahn, B (2009). An introduction to the history of psychology. Michele Sordi. p. 360. ISBN 0-495-50621-4.

Further reading

External links