Below is a list of notable scholars of the Howard School of International Affairs and their key contributions to the school of academic thought.
Alain Locke Alain Locke, an American philosopher, theorist of the
Harlem Renaissance, and the first black
Rhodes Scholar, began teaching at Howard in 1912 as an assistant professor in the English Department. After receiving his PhD in Philosophy from
Harvard University, Locke returned to Howard as chair of the Department of Philosophy, where he taught philosophy and English. Dismissed from Howard in 1925 for advocating equal pay for African American and white staff in the school, he was reappointed by
Mordecai Johnson, who became the first African American president of Howard in June 1926. Locke taught until his retirement in 1953. At Howard, Locke's scholarship conceptualized race beyond the biological and hereditary by emphasizing cultural and social elements. This view, along with his philosophy about value systems, is visible in his involvement with the Harlem Renaissance, which he labeled the New Negro movement. In this new movement, Locke gave voice to a Black America beyond "the Negro Problem." He sought to elevate the arts, literature, and music of this "Black mecca" in the U.S., which he herald as new era of change. In this way, Locke's scholarship elevated Black life and aesthetics in the U.S. and around the world. Additionally, Alain Locke, educated in Germany and England, had a significant international orientation and influence. Locke viewed race as a primary motivator in imperial and colonial endeavors that were pushed by commercial and religious agendas. This was a direct challenge to the privileging of Empire within International Relations discipline.
E. Franklin Frazier E. Franklin Frazier, an American sociologist and author, was an expert on the African American family. Frazier attended Howard University and graduated with honors in 1916. Afterwards, he began teaching mathematics at
Tuskegee University from 1916–1917, English and History at St. Paul's Normal and Industrial School from 1917 to 1918, and French and Mathematics at Baltimore High School from 1918–1919. In 1920, Frazier earned a master's degree from
Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. His thesis was entitled, "
New Currents of Thought Among the Colored People of America," and explored sociology in depth. Frazier was a Russell Sage Foundation fellow at the New York School of Social Work, now known as
Columbia University School of Social Work, from 1920 to 1921. He continued his education at the
University of Copenhagen where he was awarded an American Scandinavian Foundation fellowship. Afterwards, Frazer became director of the Atlanta School of Social Work at
Atlanta University and worked as a lecturer of Sociology at
Morehouse College. In his five-year tenure as director, Frazier made contributions as an administrator, theorist, and activist against racism. However, he had to leave the school shortly after publishing several articles pronouncing racism as similar to insanity. Frazier received a fellowship at the University of Chicago's Sociology department and culminated his time there by earning a PhD in 1931. Then, Frazier taught at
Fisk University, another Historically Black College University, before moving to
Howard University. Frazier taught at Howard from 1934 until his death in 1962. His scholarship addressed the role of race in social, economic, and political conditions of the world.
Ralph Bunche Ralph Bunche, an American political scientist and diplomat, received his MA in political science in 1928 and PhD in 1934 from Harvard University. He was appointed an instructor in political science at Howard University, and rose to become professor and chair of the department. From 1936 to 1938, Bunche studied anthropology and conducted postdoctoral research at
Northwestern University and the
London School of Economics (LSE). During this time, Bunche developed an expertise on the impact of colonialism on colonial subjects. His book,
A Worldview of Race, argues that race plays a role in modern economic, political, and social conditions. When the US entered World War II, Bunche took a leave of absence from Howard University in 1941 and did not return to formal teaching. He worked as Senior Social Science Analyst for Africa in the
Office of Strategic Services (OSS), then at the
U.S. State Department, and finally, at the
United Nations. Turning theory to practice, he expanded the reach of the Howard School of International Relations academic thought by attempting to displace racial hierarchy in domestic and international institutions.
Rayford Logan Rayford Logan, an American historian, taught at Howard from 1938 to 1965. As a young activist, he sought many ways to improve the plight of African-Americans in the United States, particularly helping black people with voter registration. During
World War II, he helped advocate for African-Americans to be included in the defense industries and combat units of the S. military. With a PhD from Harvard, he published his dissertation as his first book,
The Diplomatic Relations of the United States with Haiti-1776-1891. He continued to publish scholarly articles and books based on his research into African, Caribbean and African American history. He was close to
W.E DuBois and
Carter G. Woodson and was actively involved with the
Association for the Study of Negro Life and History throughout his career.
Eric Williams Eric Williams, an economic historian, taught political and social sciences at Howard from 1938 to 1955, where he participated in numerous discussions about race, empire and the role of white supremacy in the organization of the world. After returning home to
Trinidad and Tobago, Eric Williams entered politics. In his best known book,
Capitalism and Slavery (1944), developed multiple theories regarding the relationships between slavery, abolition, racism, and British capitalism. The work features four key conclusions drawn from Williams' research on British capitalism and Caribbean slavery. The phenomenon of racism, according to Williams, emerged in the aftermath of economic exploitation of black slaves, therefore making the phenomenon a consequence – not the cause – of slavery. These contributions solidified Williams' position as a widely acclaimed scholar in The Howard School of International Relations.
Merze Tate Merze Tate, an American scholar, world traveler and expert in U.S. diplomacy began teaching at Howard in 1942. She was a 1950–1951
Fulbright Scholar in India, and she traveled to a number of countries in Asia as a U.S. Information agency lecturer. Before joining Howard faculty, Tate taught at
Bennett College in Greensboro, North Carolina and
Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia – two
historically black liberal arts colleges. She became the first black woman in the History Department at Howard University and was a Professor in Diplomatic History at Howard for 35 years. She was a prolific writer. Most of her published works showed a broad interest in human development. Notable was
The United States and the Hawaiian Kingdom: A Political History (1965) – was her study on
Kamehameha IV. Other books include
The Disarmament Illusion: The Movement for a Limitation of Armaments to 1907 (1942),
The United States and Armaments (1948), and Hawaii: Reciprocity or Annexation. In the 1980s she began a project on Mineral Railways in Africa and published
Mineral Railways in Africa in 1989. Tate also researched imperialism in Asia, which was connected with
imperialism in America at the time. == References ==