Albert Sidney Beckham (1897–1964) was the first African American to hold the title of

school psychologist School psychology is a field that applies principles from educational psychology, developmental psychology, clinical psychology, community psychology, and behavior analysis to meet the learning and behavioral health needs of children and adoles ...

. He was a pioneering African American psychologist specializing in

educational psychology Educational psychology is the branch of psychology concerned with the scientific study of human learning. The study of learning processes, from both cognitive psychology, cognitive and behavioral psychology, behavioral perspectives, allows researc ...

and made significant contributions to the base of knowledge about the racial intelligence score disparity. Additionally, he taught in the

New York public school system The New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) is the department of the government of New York City that manages the city's public school system. The City School District of the City of New York (more commonly known as New York City Publ ...

and was a professor at

Wilberforce University Wilberforce University (WU) is a private university in Wilberforce, Ohio. It is one of three historically black universities established before the American Civil War. Founded in 1856 by the Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC), it is named after ...

and

Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...

. He served the Chicago school district as their first African American school psychologist.

Education

At the age of fifteen, Beckham enrolled at Lincoln University and was a fellow student of Francis Sumner, who would become the first African American to earn a Ph.D. in psychology. In 1915 Beckham graduated with a BA in psychology and began graduate study at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

the same year. While at Ohio State, he earned a second bachelor's degree in 1916 and a master's degree in psychology in 1917. From 1917 to 1920, Beckham served as an assistant professor of psychology at

. In 1921, Beckham began his doctoral studies at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

but transferred to

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

(NYU) because there was more financial aid available at NYU. In 1924, Beckham suspended his doctoral studies to accept an instructor position, and later an assistant professor, at

, becoming the first person to teach psychology at the institution, and also opened the university's first psychology lab. After five years at Howard University, he went back to NYU to finish his doctorate in 1930.

Career and legacy

Beckham's scholarly work largely focused on education; however, he also conducted studies on topics such as

albinism Albinism is the congenital absence of melanin in an animal or plant resulting in white hair, feathers, scales and skin and reddish pink or blue eyes. Individuals with the condition are referred to as albinos. Varied use and interpretation of ...

narcolepsy Narcolepsy is a chronic neurological disorder that impairs the ability to regulate sleep–wake cycles, and specifically impacts REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. The symptoms of narcolepsy include excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS), sleep-r ...

, race attitudes, and life satisfaction. Beckham was a pioneer in the field of

Black psychology Black psychology, also known as African-American psychology and African/Black psychology, is a scientific field that focuses on how people of African descent know and experience the world. The field, particularly in the United States, largely eme ...

and among the first African Americans to earn a PhD in psychology. He was a professor at Wilberforce University and Howard University and provided guidance to thousands of students in the

Chicago public school system Chicago Public Schools (CPS), officially classified as City of Chicago School District #299 for funding and districting reasons, in Chicago, Illinois, is the fourth-largest school district in the United States, after New York, Los Angeles, an ...

. Beckham spent most of his life fighting against discrimination of African American children, and hoped to use scientific research to bring equality between the races. Much of his research was around the topic of intelligence, especially in African American adolescents. He was one of the psychologists of color, including Drs. Horacce Mann Bond, Herman Canady, Martin Jenkins, and George Sanchez, who set out to debunk

Francis Galton Sir Francis Galton (; 16 February 1822 – 17 January 1911) was an English polymath and the originator of eugenics during the Victorian era; his ideas later became the basis of behavioural genetics. Galton produced over 340 papers and b ...

's theory of

eugenics Eugenics is a set of largely discredited beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter the frequency of various human phenotypes by inhibiting the fer ...

, which suggested that whites were intellectually superior to African Americans. Beckham's research into this field found that the largest influences on intelligence were socio-economic background and the child's environment. Beckham was just one of several African American researchers testing African American intelligence, in order to provide evidence against claims made by anti-African American propaganda. Working in Chicago, Beckham had access to a large population of African American children. He worked with the Institute of Juvenile Research to help understand the roots of juvenile delinquency. It was Beckham's belief that with the correct therapy, and an early behavioral diagnosis many juvenile children could have been helped from having any criminal record. Beckham also goes on to state in one of his publications, that juvenile delinquency could be severely reduced if individuals went off of scientific research rather than perceived stereotypes. His works also included groundbreaking research on church-neighborhood-school relationship, which benefited American youth.

Personal life

Beckham married

Ruth Winifred Howard Ruth Winifred Howard (March 25, 1900 – February 12, 1997) was an American psychologist. She is best known for her psychological work concerning students with special needs at Children's Provident Hospital School. She is one of the first Afr ...

in 1934 and the couple moved to Chicago, where they lived until 1987.

Selected works

Beckham, A. S. (1924). Applied eugenics
''Crisis'', ''28(1)''
177–178. Beckham, A. S. (1929). Is the Negro happy? ''Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology'', ''24''(2), 186–190. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0072938 Beckham, A. S. (1930). ''A study of intelligence of colored adolescents of different economic and social status in typical metropolitan areas'' octoral dissertation, New York Universitybr>https://library.nyu.edu
Beckham, A. S. (1931). Juvenile delinquency and the Negro
''Opportunity'', ''9''
300–302. Beckham, A. (1932). The Negro child of pre-school age. ''The Southern Workman, 61'', 221–226. Beckham, A. S. (1932). Race and intelligence. ''Opportunity'', ''10'', 240–242. Beckham, A. S. (1933). A study of the intelligence of colored adolescents of different social-economic status in typical metropolitan areas. ''The Journal of Social Psychology'', ''4''(1), 70–91. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.1933.9921558 Beckham, A. S., (1933). Over-Suggestibility in Juvenile Delinquency. ''The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology'', ''28''(2), 172–178. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/h0070124 Beckham, A. S., & Israeli, N. (1933). Political, racial, and differential psychology. ''The Journal of Social Psychology'', ''4'', 1. Beckham, A. S. (1934). A study of race attitudes in negro children of adolescent age. ''Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology'', ''29''(1), 18–29. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0070753 Beckham, A. S. (1939). The intelligence of a Negro high school population in a Northern city. ''The Pedagogical Seminary and Journal of Genetic Psychology'', ''54''(2), 327–336. https://doi.org/10.1080/08856559.1939.10534339 Beckham, A. S. (1942). A study of social background and art aptitude of superior Negro children. ''Journal of Applied Psychology, 26''(6), 777. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0056017 Beckham, A. S. (1942). A study of social background and music ability of superior Negro children. ''Journal of Applied Psychology'', ''26''(2), 210–217. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0054822 Beckham, A. S. (1946). Albinism in Negro children. ''The Pedagogical Seminary and Journal of Genetic Psychology'', ''69''(2), 199–215. https://doi.org/10.1080/08856559.1946.10533389

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beckham, Albert Sidney 1897 births 1964 deaths People from Camden, South Carolina 20th-century American psychologists Special education in the United States Special educators American educational psychologists