Charles Henry Thompson

Charles Henry Thompson was the first African American to obtain a doctoral degree in educational psychology.^[1]

Early life

Thompson was born in 1896 in Jackson, Mississippi to Patrick Henry and Sara Estelle Thompson. His parents were both teachers at the Jackson College. Thompson went to school in Virginia at Wayland Academy where he graduated from high school in 1914.^[1]

Undergraduate/Graduate College

Straight after high school Thompson enrolled in Virginia Union University. He graduated in 1917 with a Bachelor’s Degree by doubling his course load. After graduation, he trained as an army cadet in Des Moines, Iowa. He then attended the University of Chicago and fulfilled a second undergraduate degree in 1918.^[which?] Thompson was drafted into the army in Camp Grant and then France. He remained in the Army for nineteen months, where he was an Infantry Personnel Regimental Sergeant Major. When he got discharged, he returned to the University of Chicago, double majoring in education and psychology. He received a Masters degree in 1920 and a Ph.D. in 1925.^[1]

Career

Thompson had a strong desire to become a psychiatrist, but settled for educational psychology because there were not any known African Americans with a degree in psychiatry. He became an instructor at Virginia Union University between 1920 and 1921. In 1922 he became the director of instruction at Alabama State Normal School until 1924. He was a social science and psychology professor between 1925 and 1926 at Sumner High school and Junior College located in Kansas City. Thompson finally settled at Howard University, where he held various posts, including professor of education, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, and the Dean of the Graduate school.^[1]

Publications

Thompson was the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Negro Education for over thirty years.^[1]

Memberships

Thompson was a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.^[1]

Footnotes

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Guthrie, R.V. (1998). p. 168.

References

• Guthrie, R.V. (1998) Production of Black Psychologist in America. Even the Rat Was White (2nd ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 155-212.

Persondata
Name	Thompson, Charles Henry
Alternative names
Short description	Psychologist
Date of birth	1896
Place of birth	Jackson, Mississippi
Date of death
Place of death