John Robert Edward Lee Sr. (January 26, 1864 – April 6, 1944) was an early leader in

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

education. He served as the third President of

Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), commonly known as Florida A&M, is a public historically black land-grant university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. Founded in 1887, It is the third-largest historically black uni ...

, a

historically black college Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of serving African Americans. Most are in the Southern U ...

, from 1924 to 1944.

Biography

John Robert Edward Lee was born into

slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

to John and Mary (Mayes) Lee in

Seguin, Texas Seguin ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Guadalupe County, Texas, Guadalupe County, Texas, United States. The population was 29,433 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, and according to 2023 census estimates, the city is estima ...

. He attended

Bishop College Bishop College was a historically black college, founded in Marshall, Texas, United States, in 1881 by the Baptist Home Mission Society. It was intended to serve students in east Texas, where the majority of the black population lived at the ...

, starting in 1883 with preparatory classes and graduating with honors in 1889, the third person to graduate with an A.B. from Bishop. He spent the next two years as the principal of a

two-teacher school A two-room schoolhouse is a larger version of the one-room schoolhouse, with many of the same characteristics, providing the facility for primary and secondary education in a small community or rural area. While providing the same function as a c ...

Palestine, Texas Palestine ( ) is a city in and the County seat, seat of Anderson County, Texas, Anderson County in the U.S. state of Texas. It was named after Palestine, Illinois, by preacher Daniel Parker (Baptist), Daniel Parker, who had migrated from that ...

. In 1891, he returned to Bishop to spend the next decade there as a faculty member, serving as Dean of Men and Professor of history, mathematics, and Latin. In 1895, he married Ardelia Wilson and they would have seven children. In 1901, he became head of the Division of Mathematics at the

Tuskegee University Tuskegee University (Tuskegee or TU; formerly known as the Tuskegee Institute) is a private, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama, United States. It was founded as a normal school for teachers on July 4, 1881, by the ...

under the leadership of Dr.

Booker T. Washington Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, and orator. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the primary leader in the African-American community and of the contemporary Black elite#United S ...

. After two years, he left to become professor of mathematics at

Benedict College Benedict College is a private historically black college in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1870 by northern Baptists, it was originally a teachers' college. It has since expanded to offer majors in many disciplines across ...

, but returned to Tuskegee as Director of the Academic Department in 1905. In 1904, Lee founded the National Association of Teachers in Colored Schools and served as president for its first five years. From 1915 to 1921 he served as principal of Lincoln High School in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

. For his work in these years he was awarded a number of honorary degrees: an

M.A. A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

from Bishop in 1903, an

LL.D. A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

from

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 ...

in 1918 for "his unselfish educational and humanitarian services", and an LL.D. from

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 ...

. During this time he also took courses at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

, and

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

. In 1921, he left education and became Extension Secretary of the

National Urban League The National Urban League (NUL), formerly known as the National League on Urban Conditions Among Negroes, is a nonpartisan historic civil rights organization based in New York City that advocates on behalf of economic and social justice for Afri ...

. Following a recommendation from Jackson Davis, Lee became President of Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University in 1924. Lee obtained greater funding for the university from the

Florida Board of Control The Florida Board of Control (1905–1965) was the statewide governing body for the State University System of Florida, which included all public universities in the state of Florida. It was replaced by the Florida Board of Regents in 1965.< ...

, the

General Education Board The General Education Board was a private organization which was used primarily to support higher education and medical schools in the United States, and to help rural white and black schools in the South, as well as modernize farming practices in ...

, and 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 ...

and accreditation for the university from the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. He was able to obtain greater salaries for teachers and administrators despite the statement of Florida Governor

Fred P. Cone Frederick Preston Cone (September 28, 1871 – July 28, 1948) was an American politician who served as the 27th Governor of Florida. Early life Frederick Preston Cone was born in the Benton community of northern Columbia County, Florida to Will ...

that "no Negro was worth $4000 a year". By the end of Lee's tenure, "FAMU had constructed 48 buildings, accumulated 396 acres of land, and had 812 students and 122 staff members." Lee died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

and was buried at his request in

Marshall, Texas Marshall is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat of Harrison County, Texas, Harrison County and a cultural and educational center of the Ark-La-Tex region. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the population of ...

Biography

References

Further reading