Charles H. Wesley
Encyclopedia
Charles Harris Wesley was a noted African American historian, educator, writer and author.
, the only child of Matilda and Charles Snowden Wesley. He attended local schools as a boy, and went on to graduate from Fisk University
in 1911. He subsequently earned a Master's degree from Yale University
in 1913, and in 1925, Wesley became the fourth African-American to receive a PhD from Harvard University
. He was awarded a Doctor of Divinity
in 1928 by Wilberforce University
.
(AME). After serving as the Dean of the Liberal Arts and the Graduate School at Howard University
, in 1942 he was called to serve as President of Wilberforce University (an AME affiliated university) in Wilberforce, Ohio
until 1947. It was in that year that he went on to found Central State University
across the street from Wilberforce University and where he would serve as president until he moved back to Washington, D.C. in 1965.
In 1965, Wesley became the Director of Research and Publications for the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History
. He was Executive Director from 1965–1972, later becoming Executive Director Emeritus. In 1976, he became Director of the Afro-American Historical and Cultural Museum in Philadelphia. He was also a life member of the American Historical Association
.
Wesley was the 14th and a five-term General President and later National Historian for seven decades of Alpha Phi Alpha
, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter
fraternity
established by and for African Americans. He wrote The History of Alpha Phi Alpha in 1929, and many new editions. Wesley is also a member of Sigma Pi Phi
, the first of all Black Greek Letter Organizations (BGLO). He was also a Prince Hall Freemason
, a Sovereign Grand Inspector General (33rd Degree) of the United Supreme Council (Southern Jurisdiction, Prince Hall); a member of the Odd Fellows, Sigma Pi Phi (the Boule), Elks, and many other fraternal organizations.
Wesley died on August 16, 1987, in Washington, D.C. at 12:35 am, and was buried at Lincoln Memorial Cemetery, Suitland, Maryland
.
Early life and education
Charles Wesley was born in Louisville, KentuckyLouisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
, the only child of Matilda and Charles Snowden Wesley. He attended local schools as a boy, and went on to graduate from Fisk University
Fisk University
Fisk University is an historically black university founded in 1866 in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. The world-famous Fisk Jubilee Singers started as a group of students who performed to earn enough money to save the school at a critical time of financial shortages. They toured to raise funds to...
in 1911. He subsequently earned a Master's degree from Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
in 1913, and in 1925, Wesley became the fourth African-American to receive a PhD from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. He was awarded a Doctor of Divinity
Doctor of Divinity
Doctor of Divinity is an advanced academic degree in divinity. Historically, it identified one who had been licensed by a university to teach Christian theology or related religious subjects....
in 1928 by Wilberforce University
Wilberforce University
Wilberforce University is a private, coed, liberal arts historically black university located in Wilberforce, Ohio. Affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Church, it was the first college to be owned and operated by African Americans...
.
Career
Wesley was an ordained minister of the African Methodist Episcopal ChurchAfrican Methodist Episcopal Church
The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the A.M.E. Church, is a predominantly African American Methodist denomination based in the United States. It was founded by the Rev. Richard Allen in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1816 from several black Methodist congregations in the...
(AME). After serving as the Dean of the Liberal Arts and the Graduate School at Howard University
Howard University
Howard University is a federally chartered, non-profit, private, coeducational, nonsectarian, historically black university located in Washington, D.C., United States...
, in 1942 he was called to serve as President of Wilberforce University (an AME affiliated university) in Wilberforce, Ohio
Wilberforce, Ohio
Wilberforce is a census-designated place in Greene County, Ohio, United States. The population was 1,579 at the 2000 census. The community was named for the English statesman William Wilberforce, who worked for abolition of slavery and achieved the end of the slave trade in the United Kingdom and...
until 1947. It was in that year that he went on to found Central State University
Central State University
Central State University, commonly referred to as "C-State", is a historically black university located in Wilberforce, Ohio, United States. It is the only public HBCU in Ohio.-History:...
across the street from Wilberforce University and where he would serve as president until he moved back to Washington, D.C. in 1965.
In 1965, Wesley became the Director of Research and Publications for the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History
Association for the Study of African American Life and History
The Association for the Study of African American Life and History is an organization dedicated to the study and appreciation of African-American History. It is a non-profit organization founded in Chicago, Illinois, on September 9, 1915 and incorporated in Washington, D.C. on October 2, 1915 as...
. He was Executive Director from 1965–1972, later becoming Executive Director Emeritus. In 1976, he became Director of the Afro-American Historical and Cultural Museum in Philadelphia. He was also a life member of the American Historical Association
American Historical Association
The American Historical Association is the oldest and largest society of historians and professors of history in the United States. Founded in 1884, the association promotes historical studies, the teaching of history, and the preservation of and access to historical materials...
.
Wesley was the 14th and a five-term General President and later National Historian for seven decades of Alpha Phi Alpha
Alpha Phi Alpha
Alpha Phi Alpha is the first Inter-Collegiate Black Greek Letter fraternity. It was founded on December 4, 1906 at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Its founders are known as the "Seven Jewels". Alpha Phi Alpha developed a model that was used by the many Black Greek Letter Organizations ...
, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter
Greek alphabet
The Greek alphabet is the script that has been used to write the Greek language since at least 730 BC . The alphabet in its classical and modern form consists of 24 letters ordered in sequence from alpha to omega...
fraternity
Fraternities and sororities
Fraternities and sororities are fraternal social organizations for undergraduate students. In Latin, the term refers mainly to such organizations at colleges and universities in the United States, although it is also applied to analogous European groups also known as corporations...
established by and for African Americans. He wrote The History of Alpha Phi Alpha in 1929, and many new editions. Wesley is also a member of Sigma Pi Phi
Sigma Pi Phi
Sigma Pi Phi is the first African-American Greek-lettered organization. Sigma Pi Phi was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on May 15, 1904. The fraternity quickly established chapters in Chicago, IL and then Baltimore, MD....
, the first of all Black Greek Letter Organizations (BGLO). He was also a Prince Hall Freemason
Prince Hall Freemasonry
Prince Hall Freemasonry derives from historical events which led to a tradition of separate predominantly African-American Freemasonry in North America...
, a Sovereign Grand Inspector General (33rd Degree) of the United Supreme Council (Southern Jurisdiction, Prince Hall); a member of the Odd Fellows, Sigma Pi Phi (the Boule), Elks, and many other fraternal organizations.
Wesley died on August 16, 1987, in Washington, D.C. at 12:35 am, and was buried at Lincoln Memorial Cemetery, Suitland, Maryland
Suitland-Silver Hill, Maryland
Suitland-Silver Hill is a census-designated place in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. The census area include separate unincorporated communities of Silver Hill and Suitland, and other smaller communities. The population was 33,515 at the 2000 census...
.
Awards
He was the recipient of numerous awards, including- Guggenheim FellowshipGuggenheim FellowshipGuggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
in 1930/31 - Phi Beta Kappa Key in 1953
- Scottish Rite Gold Medal Award in 1957
- Amistad Award in 1972.
- Honorary doctorates from numerous universities
African-American history
- Negro Labor in the United States, 1850–1925 (1927)
- Richard Allen, Apostle of Freedom (1935)
- Collapse of the Confederacy (1937)
- The Negro in the Americas (1940)
- Negro Makers of History (5th edition) with Carter G. WoodsonCarter G. WoodsonCarter Godwin Woodson was an African-American historian, author, journalist and the founder of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. Woodson was one of the first scholars to study African American history. A founder of Journal of Negro History , Dr...
(1958) - The Story of the Negro Retold with Carter G. Woodson (1959)
- The Negro in Our History with Carter G. Woodson(1962)
- Ohio Negroes in the Civil War (1962)
- Neglected History: Essays in Negro History (1965)
- Negro Americans in the Civil War: From Slavery to Citizenship (1967)
- International Library of Negro Life and History, a ten volume set (1967).
- In Freedom's Footsteps: From the African Background to the Civil War (1968)
- The Quest for Equality: From Civil War to Civil Rights (1968)
- Negro Citizenship in the United States: The Fourteenth Amendment and the Negro-American, Its Concepts and Developments, 1868–1968 (1968)
- The Fifteenth Amendment and Black America, 1870–1970 (1970)
- Women Builders with Sadie Iola Daniel and Thelma D. Perry (1970)
Greek-letter fraternity
- The History of Alpha Phi Alpha: A Development in Negro College Life (1929)
- The History of Sigma Pi Phi (1954)
- Henry Arthur CallisHenry A. CallisHenry Arthur Callis, M.D. was one of the seven founders of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity at Cornell University in 1906. Callis co-authored the Fraternity name with Eugene Jones and became the only Jewel to become General President of the fraternity...
, Life and Legacy (1977)
Prince Hall Freemasonry
- The History of the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of the Free and Accepted Masons of the State of Ohio (1961 and 1972)
- Prince HallPrince HallPrince Hall , was a tireless abolitionist and a leader of the free black community in Boston. Hall tried to gain New England’s enslaved and free blacks a place in some of the most crucial spheres of society, Freemasonry, education and the military...
: A Life and Legacy (1977)
Other professional and fraternal organizations
- History of the Improved Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of the World, 1898–1954 (1955)
- The History of the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs: A Legacy of Service (1984).
External links
- Charles H. Wesley, "The Struggle for the Recognition of Haiti and Liberia as Independent Republics", The Journal of Negro History – Vol II—October, 1917—No. 4, online at The Louverture Project