Edward Franklin Frazier (1894-1962)
 Edward Franklin Frazier, the son of a bank messenger, was born in
Baltimore, Maryland, on 24th September, 1894. After graduating from Howard
University he taught mathematics, history and modern languages at the Tuskegee
Institute (1916-17), St. Paul's Industrial School (1917-18) and Baltimore
High School (1918-19).
In 1919 Frazier returned to his studies and the following
year obtained a M.A. degree in sociology from Clark University. He went
on to teach sociology at the New York School of Social Work (1920-21), the
University of Copenhagen (1921-22) and Atlanta University (1922-27).
Frazier
published a series of articles on African American life and his Ph.D. dissertation, The
Negro Family in Chicago , was published
in 1932. Critics claimed that it was the most important study since The
Philadelphia Negro was
published by William Du Bois in 1899.
Frazier
became research professor of sociology at Fisk
University (1927-34) before becoming head of the sociology department
in Howard
University in 1934. While in this post he published his most important
work, The
Negro Family in the United States (1939). The book was an analysis
of the history of the African American family since the 18th century.
This included the impact of slavery , segregation,
racial discrimination and migration on the family.
Frazier's most controversial
book was his study of the African American middle class, Black
Bourgeoisie (1957).
Later he summed up the critical reviews he had received: "In some of
the scholarly reviews as well as in the serious journals of opinion
there was either an implicit or explicit criticism that the book exhibited
anger or lack of sympathy in its stark objectivity. A leading political
analyst said that the book was cruel because if Negroes were happy
in their world of make-believe, why should I feel it was my duty to
let them know the truth about their real position in the United States?"
A
strong supporter of African American civil
rights Frazier
supported his mentor, William Du Bois ,
when he was being denounced as a traitor during the McCarthy
Era . Edward Franklin Frazier died on 17th May, 1962.
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