Mazie Oylee Tyson (born about 1900 – March 3, 1975) was an American geographer who taught at historically-black colleges from the 1920s into the 1970s, including over twenty years at

Tennessee State College Tennessee State University (Tennessee State, Tenn State, or TSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, it is the only state-funded historically black university in Tennes ...

Early life and education

Tyson was originally from

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

. She attended Florida A & M College for two years, and graduated from Howard University in 1921. In 1937 she earned a master's degree in geography at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

, with a thesis titled "A Florida Phosphate Landscape." She did doctoral work at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

, but health problems prevented the completion of her doctorate.

Career

Tyson taught at Bennett College, Bethune-Cookman College, Florida A & M College, and

Southern University Southern University and A&M College (Southern University, Southern, SUBR or SU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It is the largest historically black college or university (HBCU) in Louisiana, a ...

, before joining the geography department at Tennessee State College in 1946. She taught there until 1969, and was considered a "legend" by colleagues for her long teaching career. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Tyson headed a panel in

Leon County, Florida Leon County is a county in the Panhandle of the U.S. state of Florida. It was named after the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León. As of the 2020 census, the population was 292,198. The county seat is Tallahassee, which is also the state cap ...

, to monitor black businesses' compliance with wartime price regulations. She wrote about war work in articles "War and Post-War Challenges to Geographers" (1944), and "What Mobilization For Peace Can Learn From Mobilization For War" (1945). Tyson was active in the Nashville branch of the

American Association of University Women The American Association of University Women (AAUW), officially founded in 1881, is a non-profit organization that advances equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, and research. The organization has a nationwide network of 170,000 ...

, and in the sorority

Zeta Phi Beta Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. () is a historically African American sorority. In 1920, five women from Howard University envisioned a sorority that would raise the consciousness of their people, encourage the highest standards of scholastic achie ...

. In 1954 and 1955, she took leave from the college to work in the

United States Virgin Islands The United States Virgin Islands,. Also called the ''American Virgin Islands'' and the ''U.S. Virgin Islands''. officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and an unincorporated and organized territory ...

as a teacher and consultant.

Personal life

Mazie Tyson married fellow professor Aurelius Southall Scott in 1928; they ran a summer camp together in Ohio, and were on the faculty together at Bethune-Cookman College, before they separated in the 1930s. She retired from teaching in 1970, and died from cancer and heart failure at a hospital on Saint Thomas, in the Virgin Islands, in 1975.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tyson, Mazie O. 1975 deaths Howard University alumni Tennessee State University faculty American geographers Women geographers Ohio State University Graduate School alumni Bethune–Cookman University people Bennett College faculty American women civilians in World War II Syracuse University alumni