His archaeological career was short, but he was the first black man to attend the American School of Classical Studies in Athens, where he worked on the dig at Eritrea with John Pickard, and helped to produce the first map of the ancient city. He won a scholarship from Brown University to go, and the work he did there contributed to his Master's degree - the first awarded by Brown University to a black student.
There's a fascinating and detailed account of his time in Greece at https://nataliavogeikoff.com
He was also one of the first ten black students to attend Brown University, and the first black professor at the Paine Institute, which he had also attended as a student. He taught Greek, Latin, Hebrew, French and German.
In 1911, he went to the Congo with a Methodist mission, where he spent time translating the Gospels into the local Bantu language, Tetela. He also contracted an illness from which he never really recovered.
He was born in 1863 to enslaved parents in Georgia, and died in 1923 as a respected educator. During the early 20th century he was focused on improving the education of African Americans. He was critical of textbooks that were written for white students, without considering the contributions of black people throughout history. He also advocated for interracial co-operation and harmony, though his ideas were criticised by some other black intellectuals of the day.
His wife Osceola was also a teacher, and they had four children.
Few African Americans have followed a career in archaeology, but in 2011 the Society of Black Archaeologists was formed to address the treatment of African material culture and to encourage African Americans to enter the field.
No comments:
Post a Comment