Merl Raymond Eppse (1893 – December 27, 1967) was an American historian, and a pioneer of Black studies.[1] He was a history professor at Tennessee State University for three decades, and the author of several books.
Merl Raymond Eppse | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1893 Greenville, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | December 27, 1967 (aged 73–74) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Education | Drake University (BA) Teachers College, Columbia University (MA) |
| Occupation | Historian |
| Employer | Tennessee State University |
| Spouse | Ruth D. Clemmons |
Early life
editMerl Raymond Eppse was born in 1893 in Greenville, Ohio.[2] He was Black, and the son of Henrietta and Hiram R. Eppse.[2] Eppse attended public schools in Greenville, Ohio and graduated from the Palestine High School in Palestine, Ohio.[2]
He graduated from Drake University in 1927, where he earned a bachelor of arts degree in History.[2] Eppse earned a master's degree from the Teachers College, Columbia University in 1935.[2]
Career
editEppse was the dean of Swift Memorial College in Rogersville, Tennessee from 1927 to 1928.[3] In 1928, he became a professor of history and geography at Tennessee State University.[3] He later became the department chair.[3] Eppse was the president of the Tennessee Negro Education Association from 1948 to 1949, and he was awarded an honorary doctorate of laws from Wilberforce University in 1953.[2] He retired from TSU in 1960.[2]
Eppse founded the National Publication Company in Nashville, Tennessee, to publish his books. He was one of the first educators to write an American history textbook that included the history of African Americans.[4]
Personal life, death and legacy
editEppse married Ruth D. Clemmons.[2] He moved to Los Angeles for his retirement in 1962.[2]
Eppse died on December 27, 1967, in Los Angeles, California.[2] Penn State professor Murry R. Nelson presented a paper on Eppse in 1988.[5] The Tennessee State Library and Archives has a collection of his papers.[2]
Selected works
edit- Eppse, Merl R. (1937). A Guide to the Study of the Negro in American History. Nashville, Tennessee: National education publishing co. OCLC 31562998.
- Eppse, Merl R. (1938). The Negro, Too, in American History. Chicago: National Educational Pub. Co. OCLC 17020487.
- Eppse, Merl R. (1953). An Elementary History of America: Including the Contributions of the Negro Race. Nashville, Tennessee: National Publication Co. OCLC 7588467.
References
edit- ^ Knott, Cheryl (2016-01-01), "A Race Against Obscurity: Merl R. Eppse and The Negro, Too, in American History", Writing History from the Margins, Taylor and Francis, pp. 26–42, ISBN 978-1-138-67909-2, retrieved 2024-05-31
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Merl Raymond Eppse Papers, 1927-1961. Tennessee State Library and Archives.
- ^ Nelson, Murry R. (9 April 1988). "Merl R. Eppse and Studies of Blacks in American History Textbooks".
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ Merl R. Eppse and Studies of Blacks in American History Textbooks, pdf file