Rev. Dr. Charles Harris Wesley, Ph.D. (Dec 2, 1891 – Aug 16, 1987) American historian, educator, writer and author. Early life and education--------Charles Wesley was born in Louisville, Kentucky, the only child of Matilda and Charles Snowden Wesley. He attended local schools as a boy, and went on to graduate from Fisk University in 1911. He subsequently earned a Masters degree from Yale University in 1913, and in 1925, Wesley became the fourth African-American to receive a PhD from Harvard University. He was awarded a Doctor of Divinity in 1928 by Wilberforce University. Career---------Wesley was an ordained minister of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME). After serving as the Dean of the Liberal Arts and the Graduate School at Howard University, in 1942 he was called to serve as President of Wilberforce University (an AME affiliated university) in Wilberforce, Ohio until 1947. It was in that year that he went on to found Central State University across the street from Wilberforce University and where he would serve as president until he moved back to Washington, D.C. in 1965. In 1965, Wesley became the Director of Research and Publications for the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. He was Executive Director from 1965–1972, later becoming Executive Director Emeritus. In 1976, he became Director of the Afro-American Historical and Cultural Museum in Philadelphia. He was also a life member of the American Historical Association. Wesley was the 14th and a five-term General President and later National Historian for seven decades of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established by and for African Americans. He wrote The History of Alpha Phi Alpha in 1929, and many new editions. Wesley is also an archon of Sigma Pi Phi (the Boule), which is the first of all Black Greek Letter Organizations (BGLO). He was also a Prince Hall Freemason, a Sovereign Grand Inspector General (33rd Degree) of the United Supreme Council (Southern Jurisdiction, Prince Hall); a member of the Odd Fellows, Elks, and many other fraternal organizations. Wesley died on August 16, 1987, in Washington, D.C. at 12:35 am, and was buried at Lincoln Memorial Cemetery, Suitland, Maryland.
Posted on: Mon, 02 Dec 2013 07:34:54 +0000
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