William Sanders Scarborough: the first African American classical scholar
William Sanders Scarborough (1852-1926)
Scarborough was born in Macon, Georgia, on February 16, 1852, to an enslaved mother and a free father. He and his family made their home alternately on the east and west banks of the Ocmulgee River before finally settling in East Macon. Because the law dictated that the children of enslaved mothers inherited their status, Scarborough was enslaved, but enjoyed a great degree of freedom as his mother was allowed to live in her own house and his father was a free railway employee. This freedom appears to have helped him access an education, as he learned to read while still a young boy. In addition to learning his alphabet from his parents and receiving instruction from a white businessman, he reportedly received early instruction from Theophilus Gould (T.G.) Steward, who was one of the first pastors of what is now known as Steward Chapel A.M.E. Church in Macon. Scarborough's father was affiliated with the Methodist faith tradition, while his mother was Presbyterian.
He attended Lewis High School in Macon, which was established in 1865 by the American Missionary Association to educate Black children. He furthered his education at Atlanta University (now Clark-Atlanta University) and continued to Oberlin College, where he earned both a B.A. and an M.A.
Scarborough taught in several schools, including Lewis High School in Macon and Paine Institute in Cokesbury, South Carolina. Eventually, he became a professor at Wilberforce University, a school closely affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church, in Wilberforce, Ohio. He assumed the presidency of Wilberforce in 1908 and served in the position until 1920.
He is perhaps best known for the textbook, First Lessons in Greek, published in 1881, which was considered the standard text for many years. He was the first person of his race in the United States to author a textbook. Scarborough was pioneering on many fronts. In 1884, he was the first African American to join the Modern Language Association and the third to join the American Philological Association in 1882. He was a longtime member of the African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church. He passed away on September 9, 1926.
To learn more about his phenomenal life and career, check out the Autobiography of William Sanders Scarborough : An American Journey from Slavery to Scholarship by William Sanders Scarborough, edited by Michele Valerie Ronnick with a foreword by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (Wayne State University Press, 2004).
