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Francis Cecil Sumner (1895-1954)

Francis Cecil Sumner (1895-1954). Overview. Zeitgeist Historical Antecedents Professional Obstacles Overview of Research Interests Experiments/Data/Outcomes Sumner’s Influences Summary of Presentation. “The Spirit of the Times”. Born 1895

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Francis Cecil Sumner (1895-1954)

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  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 1876-1920 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 • 1920 - 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 (1911-1915)

  8. Personal History and Education • Clark College (1915-1916) • G. Stanley Hall • Accomplishments • Relationship to Sumner

  9. Personal History and Education • Lincoln University (1916-1917) • 1917 received M.A. from Lincoln • Clark University (1917-1918) • Military Service (1918-1919) • Clark University (1919-1920) • June 14th, 1920 Received his PhD in Psychology

  10. Personal History and Education • West Virginia Collegiate Institute (1921-1928) • 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 (1928-1954) • 1930 - 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

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