Francis Cecil Sumner

CTL-E-6759 · Person · other · 1895–1954

PROVISIONAL evidence grade of this record

Francis Cecil Sumner (1895–1954) in 1920 became the first African American to earn a PhD in psychology, at Clark University under G. Stanley Hall. At Howard University he built the psychology department into the field's most important training ground for Black scholars — 'Black psychology's' institutional father — teaching and mentoring Kenneth Clark, among many others. His own scholarship answered racist claims in the psychology of his day and helped found the discipline's Black professional tradition.

Notes

Merged 2026-11-02 from the staged health pioneers packet (website/.build-work/scratch-v114/health/) under the GOV-006 founder gate opened 2026-11-02; the staged record is carried verbatim — no claim upgraded in transit (GOV-004). · Roles as staged: Psychologist — founder, Howard University psychology department · Photo slot: HELD — No portrait on Wikimedia Commons (searched 'Francis Sumner psychologist' and name variants 2026-11-02).

Sources

• Wikipedia, 'Francis Cecil Sumner' — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Cecil_Sumner

More person records

• Mamie Phipps Clark
• Fred Rice
• LeRoy Martin
• Terry Hillard
• Fred Waller
• Benjamin Ward

Browse the full directory: all entity records

Record CTL-E-6759 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · evidence grade: PROVISIONAL · 1 source · CTL research: PPL-001.
Directory: all entity records · the knowledge graph

Cite this record

Citation guidance for teachers, journalists, and funders: How to Cite Us.

From the Archive

The archive in pictures

The people, places, and institutions this work documents. Photographs from the CultureTechLens research record — rights-cleared, credited, and cited like everything else here.