Thursday, April 3, 2008

I am Miller .

I was a force in the intellectual life of black America for about a half of century. Miller was a mathematician, a sociologist, an essayist, and a newspaper columnist. I was born in South Carolina in 1863, and worked his way through Howard University. After graduating from Howard University, I was admitted to the graduate program in Johns Hopkins University's Department of Mathematics in 1887. I was the first African American admitted in the university. After two years, however, I left the University without a degree.

I was an appointed professor of mathematics at Howard in 1890, and introduced sociology into the curriculum in 1895, serving as professor of sociology from 1895 to 1934. I was the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and modernized the classical curriculum, strengthening the natural and social sciences. In 1889, I re-enrolled in a graduate program at Howard University. I then earned a Ph.D. in Mathematics was appointed a professor at Howard in 1890. In 1895, I introduced Sociology to the curriculum there and was a professor of Sociology from 1895 to 1934. As Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, I was credited with creating the classical curriculum at Howard, and strengthening the university's programs in the natural and social sciences.

I was a prolific writer whose articles appeared in the major newspapers and magazines of the day. In the 1920s and 1930s, my weekly column appeared in more than 100 newspapers. On African-American education policy, Miller aligned himself with neither the "radicals", Du Bois and the Niagara Movement or the "conservatives", the followers of Booker T. Washington. I found a middle way, a comprehensive education system that would provide for "symmetrical development" of African-American citizens by offering both vocational and intellectual instruction. I was also a prolific writer and an outspoken advocate for African-American education. Through the 1920s and 1930s, he authored a weekly column that appeared in more than 100 newspapers nationwide.

Overall, I believe I was a helpful contribution to math and will be remembered forever.

No comments: