Dr. Thomas Wyatt Turner (March 16, 1877 – April 27,1978) was an agricultural botanist, the first African-American to earn a PhD in Botany, and the first African-American to earn a PhD at Cornell University. Born to sharecropper parents in Hughesville, Maryland, he attended a Episcopal preparatory schools since catholic schools would not admit him. He continued his education receiving a B.S. (1901) and M.A. (1905) in Botany from Howard University, and PhD (1921) in Plant Physiology, Plant Pathology, and Pomology. His dissertation titled “The physiological effects of salts in altering the ratio of top to root growth” studied the effects of salt on root growth in plants.
After his M.A. he taught at Tuskegee Institute from 1901-1902, and then worked at several public schools in Baltimore and St. Louis over a 10 year period. While serving as Dean at Howard, Dr. Turner was an activist against racial prejudice and segregation. He was a founding member of the NAACP in 1909 and advocated for voting rights. He also founded and served as president of the Federated Colored Catholics in 1924 to fight against racial prejudice in the catholic church. At Howard he was a Professor of Botany at Howard from 1913-1924, the founding Department Head in 1922, and was Dean of the School of Education from 1914-1920. Dr. Turner joined Phi Beta Sigma in 1915. He was then a Professor of Botany and Head of the Unit of Natural Sciences at Hampton Institute (1924-1945) before retiring due to glaucoma.
He also held a Visiting Professorship at the Texas State University for Negroes from 1949-1950 and received an honorary Doctor of Science from Catholic University of America (CUA) in 1976. At the age of 101, in 1977, he passed away.
References:
- https://dh.howard.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?params=/context/finaid_manu/article/1198/&path_info=TURNER.Thomas.Wyatt.pdf
- http://todayinafricanamericanhistory.com/march-16th-in-african-american-history-thomas-wyatt-turner/
- https://ilci.cornell.edu/turner-fellowship/about-turner/
Image Source:
Public Domain
The Howard University Record
Volume 10, No. 3, April 1916
