Samuel Proctor Massie, Jr. (July 3, 1919 – April 10, 2005) was a chemist who studied a variety of chemicals that contributed towards the development of therapeutic drugs, including the chemistry of phenothiazine. As one of the African American scientists and technicians on the Manhattan Project to develop atomic bombs in World War II Massie worked with uranium isotopes. Massie was named one of the top 75 distinguished contributors to chemistry in history by ''
Chemical and Engineering News
''Chemical & Engineering News'' (''C&EN'') is a weekly news magazine published by the American Chemical Society (ACS), providing professional and technical news and analysis in the fields of chemistry and chemical engineering.North Carolina College at Durham in 1963, and he became the first African-American professor at the
U.S. Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy is the sec ...
in 1966.
He was a leading educator who promoted the participation of African-Americans in education. University chairs have been endowed and named in his honor, as well as an elementary school.
Early life and education
Massie was born on July 3, 1919, in
Little Rock
Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...
, Arkansas. He was the eldest of two sons of Earlee Jacko Massie and Samuel Proctor Massie Sr. His parents were members of a college fraternity and sorority, and both were educators. Massie Sr was a pastor of the
African Methodist Episcopal Church
The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a Methodist denomination based in the United States. It adheres to Wesleyan theology, Wesleyan–Arminian theology and has a connexionalism, connexional polity. It ...
(A.M.E.), and a civil rights activist.
Massie Jr graduated from Dunbar High School at the age of 13 after following his teacher mother from class to class, and then worked at a grocery store to earn tuition fees for studying at Dunbar Junior College in Little Rock. He applied to the University of Arkansas but was rejected because of his race. (In 1970, the University awarded him an honorary PhD.) Instead, he graduated ''
summa cum laude
Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...
'' with a Bachelor of Science in chemistry in 1937 at the age of 18, from the Arkansas Agricultural, Mechanical, and Normal College (Arkansas AM&N, now called University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff). He chose chemistry because his father suffered from asthma, and he wanted to help find a cure.
Massie gained a master's degree in chemistry from
Fisk University
Fisk University is a Private university, private Historically black colleges and universities, historically black Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1866 and its campus i ...
in Tennessee in 1940 on a scholarship, then taught for a year at Arkansas AM&N before going on to study for his PhD at
Iowa State University
Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricult ...
. His supervisor was Henry Gilman, who was working on the
Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development program undertaken during World War II to produce the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States in collaboration with the United Kingdom and Canada.
From 1942 to 1946, the ...
. Racial segregation at the university prevented him from living on campus, so he had to travel miles to university, where he was also not allowed to work in the same laboratories as white students. He said: "The laboratory for the white boys was on the second floor next to the library. My laboratory was in the basement next to the rats. Separate but equal."
In the second year of his doctoral studies in 1943, his father died from an asthma attack. When he returned to Arkansas for the funeral, he sought an extension of his military draft deferment, and was rejected with a racial slur about being over-educated. He turned to Gilman, who ensured he movied him onto the Manhattan Project. Massie later said, "All of us had to make a decision how we would serve the war efforts. I dropped out of school and went into the chemical warfare service". Massie worked in the Ames Laboratory, researching the conversion of uranium isotopes into liquid compounds that could be used in the atomic bomb. He worked on the Manhattan Project from 1943 to 1945, developing keloid scars on his back due to radiation exposure, and witnessing colleagues next to him being caught in a laboratory explosion. After the war, Massie completed his PhD, which involved testing compounds for therapeutic activity.
Career
After his PhD and teaching for a time at
Fisk University
Fisk University is a Private university, private Historically black colleges and universities, historically black Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1866 and its campus i ...
, Massie joined the faculty of Langston University in Oklahoma, where he taught from 1947 to 1953. He became the first African-American president of the Oklahoma Academy of Science. In 1953, he returned to Fisk University, where he taught until 1960. In 1954, he published a paper, ''The Chemistry of Phenothiazine'', in Chemical Reviews a classic in the field from which anti-psychotic medications were developed. Chemical Reviews had more than 500 requests for copies of the paper, from 50 countries.
In 1960, Massie moved to Washington, D.C., taking on the role of Associate Program Director for Special Projects in Science Education at the
National Science Foundation
The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...
(NSF), helping improve college laboratories nationwide. He was also a professor at
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 ...
United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as United States Secre ...
by President Johnson in 1966, its first African-American professor. During his tenure in Annapolis, Massie served on the academy’s equal employment opportunity committee and helped establish a black studies program. He retired from the post in 1993. Massie subsequently became the vice president of Bingwa Software Company, developing multicultural educational software.
In 1984, he and others were granted a patent for a chemical compound to treat gonorrhea, malaria, and bacterial infections, which was assigned to the US Department of the Army.
Honors
In 1994, the US Department of Energy created the Dr. Samuel P. Massie Chair of Excellence, a $14.7 million grant to nine historically black colleges and one for Hispanic students to further environmental research. His portrait was hung in the National Academy of Sciences Gallery in 1995.
In 1998, he was voted by the readers of ''
Chemical and Engineering News
''Chemical & Engineering News'' (''C&EN'') is a weekly news magazine published by the American Chemical Society (ACS), providing professional and technical news and analysis in the fields of chemistry and chemical engineering.
An elementary school in Prince George's County, Maryland, is named in Massie's honor.
Personal life
In 1947, Massie married Gloria Bell Thompkins, who he met after the World War II when he was teaching at Fisk University. Gloria Massie was a psychology professor at
Bowie State University
Bowie State University (Bowie State or BSU) is a public historically black university in Prince George's County, Maryland, north of Bowie. It is part of the University System of Maryland. Founded in 1865, Bowie State is Maryland's oldest his ...
, and was a social columnist for
Jet magazine
''Jet'' is an American weekly digital magazine focusing on news, culture, and entertainment related to the African-American community. Founded in print by John H. Johnson in November 1951 in Chicago, Illinois, the magazine was billed as "The We ...
. The Massies had three sons. They lived in Laurel, Maryland, because when he joined the US Naval Academy, real estate agents refused to show them homes in good areas, due to their color. Gloria died on January 22, 2005, and Massie, who had dementia, died soon after, on April 10, 2005, aged 85. He also self-published a short autobiography with the collaboration of Robert C. Hayden in 2005.