William Pickens
Encyclopedia
William Pickens was an African American
orator, educator, journalist, and essayist. He was born in Anderson County
, South Carolina
.
but mostly raised in Arkansas
.
He was educated at multiple schools. He received bachelors degrees from Talladega College
(1902) and Yale University
(1904), where he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa and awarded the Henry James Ten Eyek Prize; a master's degree from Fisk University
(1908); and a Litt.D from Selma University
(1915).
He was fluent in and instructed several languages, including Latin
, Greek
, and German
. He taught at his first alma mater, Talladega College, then at Wiley College
. He was also a professor of sociology and a college dean at Morgan State College. Pickens was also for a time an active and vocal member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
(NAACP).
He wrote two autobiographies: The Heir of Slaves (1910/11) and Bursting Bonds (1923).
He married the former Minnie Cooper McAlpin(e), and they had three children. Pickens was a Methodist
. He was buried at sea while vacationing with his wife on the RMS Mauretania
.
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
orator, educator, journalist, and essayist. He was born in Anderson County
Anderson County, South Carolina
-Demographics:As of the census of 2010, there were 187,126 people and 70,597 households residing in the county. The population density was 260.6 people per square mile . There were 84,092 housing units...
, South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
.
Biography
The son of freed slaves, Pickens was born in South CarolinaSouth Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
but mostly raised in Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
.
He was educated at multiple schools. He received bachelors degrees from Talladega College
Talladega College
- External Links :* -- Official web site*...
(1902) and 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...
(1904), where he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa and awarded the Henry James Ten Eyek Prize; a master's degree 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...
(1908); and a Litt.D from Selma University
Selma University
Selma University is a private, historically black, bible college located in Selma, Alabama, United States. It is affiliated with the Alabama State Missionary Baptist Convention.-History:...
(1915).
He was fluent in and instructed several languages, including Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
, Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
, and German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
. He taught at his first alma mater, Talladega College, then at Wiley College
Wiley College
Wiley College is a four-year, private, historically black, liberal arts college located on the west side of Marshall, Texas. Founded in 1873 by the Methodist Episcopal Church's Bishop Isaac Wiley and certified in 1882 by the Freedman's Aid Society, it is notable as one of the oldest predominantly...
. He was also a professor of sociology and a college dean at Morgan State College. Pickens was also for a time an active and vocal member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, usually abbreviated as NAACP, is an African-American civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909. Its mission is "to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to...
(NAACP).
He wrote two autobiographies: The Heir of Slaves (1910/11) and Bursting Bonds (1923).
He married the former Minnie Cooper McAlpin(e), and they had three children. Pickens was a Methodist
Methodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
. He was buried at sea while vacationing with his wife on the RMS Mauretania
RMS Mauretania (1938)
RMS Mauretania was launched on 28 July 1938 at the Cammell Laird yard in Birkenhead, England and was completed in May 1939. A successor to RMS Mauretania , the second Mauretania was the first ship built for the newly formed Cunard White Star company following the merger in April 1934 of the Cunard...
.
Works
- "Abraham LincolnAbraham LincolnAbraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
, Man and Statesman," 1909 - The Heir of Slaves, 1910/11
- "Frederick DouglassFrederick DouglassFrederick Douglass was an American social reformer, orator, writer and statesman. After escaping from slavery, he became a leader of the abolitionist movement, gaining note for his dazzling oratory and incisive antislavery writing...
and the Spirit of Freedom," 1912 - "Fifty Years of Emancipation," 1913
- "The Ultimate Effect of Segregation and Discrimination," 1915
- The New Negro: His Political, Civil and Mental Status, and Related Essays, 1916
- "The Kind of Democracy the Negro Expects", 1919
- The Vengeance of the Gods and Three Other Stories of the Real American Color Line, 1922
- Bursting Bonds, Boston: Jordan & More Press, 1923
- American Aesop: Negro and Other Humor, 1926.
Further reading
- Brewer, William M. The Journal of Negro History 39:3 (July 1954): 242-244.
- Avery, Sheldon. Up from Washington: William Pickens and the Negro Struggle for Equality, University of Delaware Press, 1989.
External links
- William Pickens (1881-1954) at Who’s Who in Colored America
- Pickens, William (1881-1954) at blackpast.orgBlackPast.orgBlackPast.org is a web-based free content reference center that is dedicated primarily to the understanding of African American history and the history of people of African ancestry...