Meier, August, 1923-....

Pioneer Youth statement of purpose

A noted scholar of African American history and civil rights activist, August Meier was born in Newark, N.J., on April 30, 1923. Raised in an intellectually demanding, politically-engaged family, Meier and his younger brother Paul were steeped in progressive, assimilationist ideals by their father, Frank, a chemist with the American Platinum Works and son of a German Socialist, and mother Clara, a public school teacher and principal who had come from a family of radical Eastern European Jewish intellectuals. Although set apart from his peers by his intellectual interests and taste for high culture in music, August found a firm foundation for his future self through a summer camp in Rifton, New York, operated by the Pioneer Youth of America. Years later, he recalled the camp fondly:

"Beginning when I was eleven, I spent a half-dozen summers during the years 1934-1939. Pioneer Youth of American had been founded in 1924 by a heterogeneous group of reformers -- anarchists, Communists, socialists, pacifists, union leaders in the garment trades, liberals and, very important, Progressive educators... The progressive education orientation led the camp to emphasize individual freedom, and to adopt a practice of having the campers themselves decide democratically on what their activities would be. Thus, as much as possible, decisions about what was done were in the hands of the children rather than their counselors."

This intellectual freedom allowed Meier to pursue reading instead of the more usual summer fare, and the camp exposed him both to an egalitarian interracial community and to the fractiousness of leftist politics. In 1938, he was witness as Communists sought to wrest control of the camp from the liberals and Socialists, and although the attempt was unsuccessful, Meier felt "the Communists' ouster took away something of the liveliness of the camp." As he later told a friend Lloyd Saletan, the camp wandered "considerably to the right" thereafter, even as it remained a "good old liberal" place, "you know, trade unionish, democratic, and progressive." Still admiring its "marvelous spirit" and "its freedome of expression, its application of its interracial ideals, etc.," he returned to the camp as a counselor in 1944-1946, with his mother serving as Camp Director in the latter year (letter to Lloyd Saletan, 1943 April 10).

Meier's entry into academia began with his enrollment at Oberlin College in 1940. Originally a music major, he soon switched to double major in philosophy and history to feed his growing interest in the "Negro question," an interest which occupied his energies for the remainder of his life. During a one-year hiatus from his studies in 1942-1943, Meier returned to Newark to work with the War Department Office of Dependency Benefits, where nearly a third of his co-workers were African American. Classified 4F for the draft due to poor vision, he returned to Oberlin to complete his undergraduate studies and devoting himself increasingly to active opposition to segregation. Discrimination in the dormitories led Meier and his brother to join a group of African American students to move off campus to share room and board. He described his experiences to a friend, Neil:

"Somehow we don't discuss metaphysical or other philosophical problems -- nor even problems such as Socialism or Communism, or the Post-War World of what have you. Nor do we discuss girls all the time either. We do sometimes of course, but quite naturally one of our biggest topics of discussion is the race question. Frankly I have become very radical about it myself... This year has been then full of a number of new experiences." (letter to Neil, Jan. 3 1943 [i.e. 1944?])

Meier's activism at Oberlin extended to protesting discrimination in local barbershops and holding interracial dances -- carefully planned to avoid violent white reaction and the College's disapproval. As he drifted from the Socialist idealism of his youth, becoming more skeptical and cynical and less wedded to Marx, Meier wrote that he was "orienting myself rather rapidly to a life work, at least I hope I am. For I have become exceedingly interested in the field of Race Relations, particularly the Negro, and Negro History, Sociology, etc. in general."

Meier went on to complete a master's degree (1949) under Henry Steele Commager at Columbia University, followed by a doctorate (1957) that was published as Negro Thought in America, 1880-1915: Racial Ideologist in the Age of Booker T. Washington (1963). He held a succession of academic positions at Historically Black Colleges, including Tougaloo (1945-1949), Fisk (1953-1956), and Morgan State (1957-1964), before joining the faculty at Roosevelt University (1964-1967) and finally, Kent State (1967-1993). In each position, he was active in civil rights work, serving as Secretary of the Newark NAACP in 1951-1952 and 1956-1957, as a member of the Baltimore Chapter of SNCC (1960-1963), a member of CORE (1963-1964), and as an advisor to non-violent student protests at Morgan State.

Throughout, Meier remained highly productive as a scholar, writing or editing eleven books with his colleague Elliott Rudwick, and serving as editor of the Negro in American Life series for Athenaeum (1966-1974), for the long-running Blacks in the New World series for the University of Illinois Press. With his former student John Bracey, Meier co-edited two landmark series: the Bobbs-Merrill Reprints in Black Studies (1966-1974) and the Black Studies Research Sources: Microfilms of Materials in Major Archival Manuscript Collections produced by University Publications of America (1983-1998). After several years of impaired health due to a series of strokes, August Meier died in New York City on March 19, 2003.

August Meier has been a major force in the study and promotion of African-American history for over thirty years. During his career he taught at three historically black colleges followed by twenty years at Kent State University, and was a liberal activist in the civil rights struggles dating to the 1940s. As editor of four important series on blacks in America, he influenced students and scholars alike.

Meier received both his Master's degree (1949) and his Ph. D. from Columbia University (1957). His dissertation, "Negro Racial Thought in the Age of Booker T. Washington, ca. 1880-1915," was subsequently revised and published under the title, "Negro Thought in America, 1880-1915," (1963) and placed him on the cutting edge of intellectual historians who used sociological and anthropological approaches in their examination of black history.

Meier taught at Tougaloo College in Mississippi, 1945-1949; Fisk University in Nashville, 1953-1957, where he also served as research assistant to President Charles S. Johnson, the sociologist; and Morgan State College in Baltimore, 1957-1964. As adult advisor to a student civil rights organization that participated in demonstrations against segregated facilities, Meier developed an interest in the origins of non-violent direct action, and researched and wrote about early twentieth century manifestations of this form of protest. From 1964 to 1967, he taught history at Chicago's Roosevelt University, and from 1967 until his retirement in 1993 Meier was a professor of history at Kent State University in Ohio. His long collaboration with his colleague and companion, Elliott Rudwick, professor of sociology at Kent State, resulted in seven books and numerous articles. Their joint effort lasted until Rudwick's death in 1985.

Meier has been a prolific writer analyzing black protest thought, civil rights and related issues. He has either authored or edited fourteen books between 1963 and 1986, published close to one hundred articles, and written book reviews which have appeared in major history journals. His most far-reaching impact on the intellectual community, however, has been achieved through his role as editor of books and other publications for four series in black studies. He served as general editor of the "Negro in American Life Series" for Atheneum, 1966-1974, and was general editor of the University of Illinois Press "Blacks in the New World Series", from 1972 to 1998. Meier, along with Elliott Rudwick co-edited the Bobbs-Merrill "Reprint Series in Black Studies, 1966-1974, in addition to serving as a co-editor (also with Rudwick and later with John Bracey) for University Publications of America's, "Black Studies Research Sources: Microfilms of Materials in Major Archival Manuscript Collections, 1983-1998."

Since the early 1960's August Meier has been a major force in the study of African-American history in his examination of late nineteenth and twentieth century America by his application of rigorous social and intellectual analysis. Meier was actively involved in the civil rights movement and studied its origins and development. He taught at three historic black colleges followed by twenty years at Kent State University. As editor of two major series on blacks in America, he influenced scholars and students alike.

Born in 1923 in Newark, New Jersey, Meier was reared in upwardly mobile, middle class surroundings. He openly acknowledges his parents' influence on his intellectual development--his East European Jewish mother was a teacher and vice principal of a public school, his father was a chemist. His parents had met in the Socialist Party--his mother, of German extraction, came from a family of radical intellectuals. By the mid-1930's his parents were liberal in their thinking and made him aware of the plight of the poor and the oppressed.

Another significant factor was Meier's experience as a camper and counselor at Pioneer Youth Camp near Kingston, New York where he spent his summers between 1934 and 1939. Pioneer Youth of America had been founded in 1924 by a group of reformers including progressive educators, anarchists, Communists, socialists, union leaders and liberals. A racially integrated camp, the children decided democratically what their activities would be. Pioneer Youth served as a catalyst for Meier's interest in social issues, his growing commitment to racial equality, his persistent anti-Stalisism, and the shaping of his activity in the black student protest movement of the 1960's.

Between 1940-1945 Meier attended Oberlin College, which had a reputation for being "liberal." One year during this time was spent working at a War Department agency in Newark, one-third of the employees were the black. Experiences at this agency gave impetus to Meier's decision to teach at a black college and he began studying race relations and black history. Moreover, his last two years at Oberlin were engaged in activist concerns and in anti-discrimination practices.

Meier was an assistant professor of history at Tougaloo College in Mississippi, 1945-1949, utilizing the last year of his experience there pursuing his Master's degree at Columbia University. His thesis was a study of black American nationalism prior to Marcus Garvey. Between 1953 and 1956 he held the same title at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee where he also served as President Charles S. Johnson's research assistant. Meier was awarded the Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1957 with his tome, "Negro Racial Thought in the Age of Booker T. Washington, ca. 1880-1915" serving as his dissertation. In 1963 his revised published dissertation Negro Thought in America, 1880-1915 placed Meier on the cutting edge of intellectual historians who used sociological and anthropological approaches in his examination of black history.

From 1957 to 1964 Meier taught at Morgan State College in Baltimore, first as assistant professor of history, then as associate professor. Unlike Fisk and Tougaloo where there were approximately equal numbers of black and white faculty, at Morgan 90% were black. Morgan State students had been active in civil rights work, and in 1960 Meier was also involved in the students' attempt to integrate a restaurant at Northwood shopping center by demonstrating their protest at being excluded. The students formed an organization called the Civic Interest Group and asked Meier to become and adult adviser. Later, as a result of participating in a restaurant sit-in, Meier was arrested. With the cooperation of the Congress of Racial Equality and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the students won the right to integrate these public services through the passage of laws. Meier developed a long-standing interest in the origins of non-violent direct action, researching early twentieth century manifestations of this form of protest.

As a liberal and integrationist teaching history at black institutions, Meier became involved in student activism, and in the early 1960's also became acquainted with officers of CORE, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the NAACP. He got to know such leaders as Bayard Rustin, Norman Hill, Stokeley Carmichael, Floyd McKissick, and Herbert Hill.

Meier taught history at Chicago's Roosevelt University from 1964 to 1967, a time when the era of integration had passed and black power had begun. The interest in black experience during this time period by both black and white researchers broadened the audience for Meier's publications. From 1967 until his retirement in 1993, Meier taught history at the only largely white university with which he was affiliated, Kent State University in Ohio. In 1969 he was appointed University Professor, the highest rank to which Kent State faculty members can be named. His long collaboration with his colleague, Elliott Rudwick, professor of sociology at Kent State, resulted in seven books and numerous articles. Their joint effort lasted until Rudwick's death in 1985.

Meier's activity in civil rights dates back to his college days at Oberlin in the 1940's when he joined in the campaign against discrimination of the white barbershops and witnessed the protest against the Jim Crow blood bank. Meier joined the local branch of the Newark, New Jersey NAACP in 1948, and served as secretary between 1950-1952, then again in 1957. Meier was a consultant for the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, also known as the Kerner Commission, 1968.

Since the 1950's Meier has been active in several national scholarly organizations including the Southern Historical Association, the American Historical Association and the Organization of American Historians. From about 1959-1961 he participated in a campaign to prevail upon the SHA to end its practice of holding conventions at hotels that barred blacks, and in 1980 he served on its Program Committee, then became its president in 1992. For the AHA Meier was on the Program Committee in 1972, and he chaired the Organization of American Historians's Program Committee in 1990. In 1998 thenAHA honored Meier with its Award for Scholarly Distinction, which is bestowed upon senior historians. In presenting this honor, the AHA declared that "since the pioneering work of Carter G. Woodson and the establishment of the Journal of Negro History in 1915, no historian has influenced the study of African American history more broadly than August Meier."

In the 1970's Meier received a number of research grants, including a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship, and one from the Advanced Study of the Behavioral Sciences. He was also a recipient of a research grant from the National Endowment for the Huamanities; in addition in the 1980's he twice presented a summer seminar with NEH funds entitled "Black Protest Movement in Twentieth-Century America."

Meier has been a prolific writer analyzing black protest thought, civil rights and related issues. He has either authored or edited fourteen books between 1963 and 1986, published close to a hundred articles, and written book reviews which have appeared in the major history journals. He has lectured at colleges and universities across the country about timely race related issues and aspects of his research.

Perhaps Meier's most far-reaching impact on the intellectual community has been achieved through his role as editor of books and other publications for four series in black studies. He served as general editor of the Negro in American Life Series for Atheneum, 1966-1974. He has also been general editor of the University of Illinois Press Black in the New World Series, from 1972 to 1998. Meier along with Elliott Rudwick co-edited the Bobbs-Merrill Reprint Series in Black Studies, 1966-1974, in addition to serving as a co-editor (also with Rudwick) for the University Publications of America, Black Studies Research Sources: Microfilms of Materials in Major Archival Manuscript Collections, 1983-1998. In his capacity as editor of Atheneum and the University of Illinois Press, Meier's demanding criticism and generous aid to recent students publishing their first scholarly work as well as to experienced writers can be noted in the excellent quality of the series. His former student, John H. Bracey, became his co-editor for UPA and Bobbs-Merrill, and in 1991 became his co-editor for the University of Illinois Press series. Meier was awarded an honorary doctoral degree from Rutgers University in 1994. He is now retired and living in New Jersey--he makes it a point to regularly attend and participate in historical association meetings.