Edwin Rogers Embree (1883–1950) was an author and one of the former vice presidents of the

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The foundation was created by Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller (" ...

, president of the Julius Rosenwald Foundation (also known as the

Rosenwald Fund The Rosenwald Fund (also known as the Rosenwald Foundation, the Julius Rosenwald Fund, and the Julius Rosenwald Foundation) was established in 1917 by Julius Rosenwald and his family for "the well-being of mankind." Rosenwald became part-owner of ...

), a writer, and president of the Liberian Foundation.

Early life

Embree was born in Nebraska in 1883, the youngest of four children of Laura and William Norris Embree. His grandfather and grandmother were

John Gregg Fee John Gregg Fee (September 9, 1816 – January 11, 1901) was an abolitionist, minister and educator, as well as the founder of the town of Berea, Kentucky. He established The Church of Christ, Union in Berea (1853), Berea College (1855), the fir ...

and Matilda Fee, abolitionist leaders from Kentucky. Embree had a very close relationship with his grandfather, the founder and president of

Berea College Berea College is a private liberal arts work college in Berea, Kentucky. Founded in 1855, Berea College was the first college in the Southern United States to be coeducational and racially integrated. It was integrated from as early as 1866 ...

. His father was discharged from the Union Army, after he took a job as a

telegrapher A telegraphist (British English), telegrapher (American English), or telegraph operator is a person who uses a telegraph key to send and receive Morse code messages in a telegraphy system. These messages, also called telegrams, can be transmitte ...

with the

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad is a Railroad classes, Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United Stat ...

. His father died in 1891, so his mother took her four children and moved with her parents to Berea. Embree's grandfather John Fee formed Embree's values and character at an early age, so he followed his grandfather examples. Edwin went to school at Berea and

Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...

, became a lecturer, and had many other outstanding accomplishments throughout his life. He died in 1950.

Education

Embree attended Berea Academy when he was growing up. He later attended and graduated from

, then enrolled in

where he graduated with an advance degree in philosophy. He later worked at Yale for 10 years in alumni affairs.

Accomplishments

In 1917, Embree joined the Rockefeller staff in New York as secretary (1917–1924), then as director of the Division of Studies (1925–1927), and later as one of three vice presidents (1927). He also traveled to Japan several times while working with Rockefeller. He became president of the Julius Rosenwald Foundation also known as the

for 20 years (1927–1948). When the foundation closed, he became president of the Liberian Foundation. Embree also wrote a handful of books. Brown America "The Story of a New Race" 1931. "Indians of the Americas" 1939. American Negroes "A Handbook" 1942. “Brown Americans: The Story of a Tenth of the Nation” 1943. "13 Against the Odds" 1944.

References

* Alfred Perkins, "Living The Fee Legacy: Edwin Embree and the Rosenwald Foundation", Berea College Magazine, Winter 2006, pages 34–36, available a

*
Rosenwald School Initiative

The Rockefeller Archive Center – Papers of Individuals – Rockefeller Foundation

External links

Edwin Rogers Embree papers (MS 198). Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library

{{DEFAULTSORT:Embree, Edwin 1883 births 1950 deaths Writers from Nebraska American male non-fiction writers Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni