William H. Ferris
Encyclopedia
William Henry Ferris was an author
, minister, and scholar.
He was born in New Haven, Connecticut
as the son of David H. and Sarah Ann Jefferson Ferris. His grandparents were free at the time of his father's birth. His father joined the Union Army voluntarily at the age of 17 years. Mother's father escaped from captivity on plantation and later purchased the freedom of his wife and children.
A graduate of Yale University
(1895) with a B.A., Ferris subsequently took on the role of writer and lecturer. He was a Harvard Divinity School
student from 1897–1899, graduating Harvard with an M.A. in Journalism in 1900. After teaching at Tallahassee State College, Florida Baptist College (1900-1) he worked for a number of newspapers from 1902-3. He continued teaching during the years 1903-5 at Henderson Normal School and Kittrell College
in North Carolina
. Ferris became pastor of Christ Congregational Church from 1904 to 1905. In 1908 he wrote a book entitled "Typical Negro Traits". From 1910-12 he was given charge of the "colored" missions of A.M.E. Zion Church of Lowell and Salem, Massachusetts as a lecturer at white churches. He went on to write "The African Abroad; or his Evolution in Western Civilization: Tracing his development under Caucasian Milieus" in 1913.
The African Times and Orient Review published an article contributed by Ferris wherein he praised an article previously contained in the same journal by Marcus Garvey
.
Ferris worked with William Monroe Trotter
and the Boston Guardian
, W. E. B. Du Bois and the Niagara Movement
, and John Edward Bruce
and the Negro Society for Historical Research.
He held positions as Assistant President General of the UNIA-ACL and Associate Editor of the Negro World
.
In 1922 was working on a volume with the entitled "The African in Western Lands".
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, minister, and scholar.
He was born in New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
as the son of David H. and Sarah Ann Jefferson Ferris. His grandparents were free at the time of his father's birth. His father joined the Union Army voluntarily at the age of 17 years. Mother's father escaped from captivity on plantation and later purchased the freedom of his wife and children.
A graduate of 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...
(1895) with a B.A., Ferris subsequently took on the role of writer and lecturer. He was a Harvard Divinity School
Harvard Divinity School
Harvard Divinity School is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University, located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the United States. The School's mission is to train and educate its students either in the academic study of religion, or for the practice of a religious ministry or other public...
student from 1897–1899, graduating Harvard with an M.A. in Journalism in 1900. After teaching at Tallahassee State College, Florida Baptist College (1900-1) he worked for a number of newspapers from 1902-3. He continued teaching during the years 1903-5 at Henderson Normal School and Kittrell College
Kittrell College
Kittrell College was a two-year historically black college located in Kittrell, North Carolina from about 1886 until 1975. It was associated with the African Methodist Episcopal Church....
in North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
. Ferris became pastor of Christ Congregational Church from 1904 to 1905. In 1908 he wrote a book entitled "Typical Negro Traits". From 1910-12 he was given charge of the "colored" missions of A.M.E. Zion Church of Lowell and Salem, Massachusetts as a lecturer at white churches. He went on to write "The African Abroad; or his Evolution in Western Civilization: Tracing his development under Caucasian Milieus" in 1913.
The African Times and Orient Review published an article contributed by Ferris wherein he praised an article previously contained in the same journal by Marcus Garvey
Marcus Garvey
Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Jr., ONH was a Jamaican publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator who was a staunch proponent of the Black Nationalism and Pan-Africanism movements, to which end he founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League...
.
Ferris worked with William Monroe Trotter
William Monroe Trotter
William Monroe Trotter was a newspaper editor and real estate business man, and an activist for African-American civil rights. He earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees at Harvard University, and was the first man of color to earn a Phi Beta Kappa key...
and the Boston Guardian
Boston Guardian
The Boston Guardian was co-founded by William Monroe Trotter and George Forbes in 1901 at Boston, Massachusetts, and published in the same building that had once housed William Lloyd Garrison's Liberator. In March 1901, Trotter helped organize the Boston Literary and Historical Association, a...
, W. E. B. Du Bois and the Niagara Movement
Niagara Movement
The Niagara Movement was a black civil rights organization founded in 1905 by a group led by W. E. B. Du Bois and William Monroe Trotter. It was named for the "mighty current" of change the group wanted to effect and Niagara Falls, the Canadian side of which was where the first meeting took...
, and John Edward Bruce
John Edward Bruce
John Edward Bruce, also known as Bruce Grit or J. E. Bruce-Grit , born a slave in Maryland, United States, became a journalist, historian, writer, orator, civil rights activist and Pan-African nationalist...
and the Negro Society for Historical Research.
He held positions as Assistant President General of the UNIA-ACL and Associate Editor of the Negro World
Negro World
Negro World was a weekly newspaper, established in January 1918 in New York City, which served as the voice of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League, an organization founded by Marcus Garvey in 1914...
.
In 1922 was working on a volume with the entitled "The African in Western Lands".