Edward Marion Augustus Chandler

Edward Marion Augustus Chandler
Born(1887-04-10)April 10, 1887
Ocala, Florida
DiedMarch 22, 1973(1973-03-22) (aged 85)
Texas, Houston
Alma materUniversity of Illinois, Ph.D. (1917)

Clark University, M.S. (1914)

Howard University, A.B. (1913)
Known fortriphenylmethane dyes
SpouseEstella May Thorton
Children3
Scientific career
InstitutionsDicks David & Heller Company (1917 - 1921), Abbott Laboratories (1921 - 1924)
ThesisThe molecular rearrangement of carbon compounds (1917)
Doctoral advisorRoger Adams

Edward Marion Augustus Chandler (April 10, 1887 – March 22, 1973) was the second African American to receive a Ph.D. in chemistry while studying at University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign and was a founding faculty member at Roosevelt University in Chicago.

Early life and education[edit]

Chandler was the first of eight children born to Annie M. (née Onley) (1861–1909) and Henry Wilkins Chandler (1852–1938) in Ocala, Florida.[1][2][3] Chandler's mother was a teacher from New York, and Chandler's father was the first Black graduate of Bates College in Maine who was an early African American lawyer, Florida state senator, and Republican Party Delegate.[2]

After completing high school, Chandler attended Teachers' College of Howard University where he received his A.B. in Education in 1913.[2] He then went to Clark University and obtained his M.S. in chemistry in 1914.[4] His master thesis was titled On the dynamics of ester hydrolosis [sic] by acids.[5] He completed his Ph.D. in chemistry in 1917 under the guidance Roger Adams at the University of Illinois which made him the second African American to earn a Ph.D. in chemistry in the United States after St. Elmo Brady.[2][4][6][7][8] His PhD thesis is titled "The Molecular rearrangement of Carbon Compounds".[9]

Career[edit]

After completing his Ph.D., he worked in the dye firm of Dicks, David and Heller Company until 1921.[2][10] Then he worked at the pharmaceutical manufacturer Abbott Laboratories. In 1924 Chandler left Abbott to become a consulting chemist in Lake County, Illinois.[2]

In 1945 Chandler was among the founding faculty of the new racially integrated Roosevelt College (now Roosevelt University). Other pioneers at the school included sociologist St. Clair Drake, modern dancer Sybil Shearer, and sociologist Rose Hum Lee.[2][11] Chandler taught there for twenty years.[2][12][13]

Professional memberships[edit]

Family[edit]

He married Arstella May Thorton on September 2, 1915.[16] They had four children together: Dean T. Chandler (1917), Helen Marie Chandler (1920), Ruth Annette Chandler (1922), and Beverly Jane Chandler (1925).[17]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Edward Marion Augustus Chandler". www.ancestry.com. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h "Edward Chandler". Science History Institute. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
  3. ^ "Notable Scholastic Career". The New York Age. June 21, 1917. p. 7. Retrieved September 19, 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Edward Chandler, one of Florida's finest". African American Registry. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
  5. ^ Wilson, Louis N. 1857-1937 (1914). List of degrees granted at Clark university and Clark college, 1889-1914 . University of California Libraries. Worcester, Mass., Clark university press.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/29155408.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  7. ^ https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/10200851.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  8. ^ Anderson, James D. (1993). "Race, Meritocracy, and the American Academy during the Immediate Post-World War II Era". History of Education Quarterly. 33 (2): 151–175. doi:10.2307/368340. ISSN 0018-2680. JSTOR 368340. S2CID 144416307.
  9. ^ "U. of I. Class of 1917". The Champaign Daily News. June 13, 1917. p. 9. Retrieved September 19, 2022.
  10. ^ Certified List of Domestic and Foreign Corporations for the Year ... Secretary of State. 1922.
  11. ^ University, Laura Mills and Lynn Y. Weiner on behalf of Roosevelt (2014). Roosevelt University. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4671-1247-5.
  12. ^ American Men and Women and Science. 4th edition (New York: McGraw-Hill), p.170.
  13. ^ Blacks in Science and Education, Vivian O. Sammons. (Washington, D.C.: Hemisphere Publishers), 1989. p.52.
  14. ^ a b c "Denver Star June 30, 1917 — Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection". www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
  15. ^ Shaw, James Byrnie; Lemon, Harvey B. (1917). "CHAPTER REPORTS: Illinois, Chicago". Sigma Xi Quarterly. 5 (2): 62–78. ISSN 0096-977X. JSTOR 27824035.
  16. ^ "Marriage License". FamilySearch. September 2, 1915. Retrieved September 19, 2022.
  17. ^ "Edward Marion Augustus Chandler", United States census, 1930; North Chicago, Lake, Illinois; page 18-A, line 5-10, enumeration district 49-57, National Archives film number T626. Retrieved on September 17, 2022.