Sumner, Francis Cecil
1895-1954 · Contribution: 1920-1954
Education
First African American to earn a PhD in psychology; known as 'the Father of Black Psychology' for building Howard University's psychology department into a national training ground for Black psychologists
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Quick facts
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Impact on the world
Sumner opened the discipline of psychology to Black Americans as its first Black PhD, then built the department that produced most of the field's early Black scholars.
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