Reverend Dr. Thomas Nelson Baker, Sr. was a minister, author and philosopher. Born into slavery, Baker was the first African-American to receive a PhD in philosophy in the United States.

Biography

Baker was born in

Eastville, Virginia Eastville is a town in Northampton County, Virginia, United States. The population was 203 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Northampton County. The Northampton County Courthouse Historic District is part of the Eastville Historic Dis ...

, on August 11, 1860. His parents were Thomas Chadwick and Edith Nottingham Baker, who were slaves on Robert Nottingham's plantation in

Northampton County, Virginia Northampton County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 12,282. Its county seat is Eastville. Northampton and Accomack Counties are a part of the larger Eastern Shore of Virginia. The ...

. His father became a Union soldier, and after the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, Baker's mother taught him to read, which was a crime during slavery. When he was 12, his father took him out of school, which left him with a burning desire to get an education. After nine years of a "bookless life," he entered the

Hampton Institute Hampton University is a private, historically black, research university in Hampton, Virginia. Founded in 1868 as Hampton Agricultural and Industrial School, it was established by Black and White leaders of the American Missionary Association af ...

Normal School program, where he graduated as valedictorian. To prepare for college, he enrolled at Mount Hermon Boys School in 1886, where he was one of only two black students. He was 25 when he started, and would serve as substitute principal in the summer months. He graduated from Mount Hermon in June 1889. In 1890, he entered

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

and graduated three years later as the valedictorian of his class. He then studied at

Yale Divinity School Yale Divinity School (YDS) is one of the twelve graduate and professional schools of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Congregationalist theological education was the motivation at the founding of Yale, and the professional school has ...

, where he earned a degree, and was ordained as a minister at a Congregational Church on Dixwell Avenue in New Haven. He continued at Yale, where he was awarded a Ph.D. in philosophy in 1903. His dissertation topic: "The Ethical Significance of the Connection Between Mind and Body." He left New Haven for Pittsfield to become the minister at Second Congregational Church August 1, 1901, a position he held for 37 years. He succeeded the Rev. Dr.

Samuel Harrison Samuel Bealey Harrison (March 4, 1802 – July 23, 1867) was Joint Premier of the Province of Canada for Canada East from 1841 to 1842 with William Henry Draper PM for Canada West. Draper was a member of the Family Compact and Harrison was ...

. Baker's ideas on race put him in the middle of the early 20th century debates between

W.E.B. DuBois William Edward Burghardt Du Bois ( ; February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963) was an American-Ghanaian sociologist, socialist, historian, and Pan-Africanist civil rights activist. Born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Du Bois grew up in ...

and

Booker T. Washington Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, orator, and adviser to several presidents of the United States. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the dominant leader in the African-American c ...

. The philosopher

George Yancy George Dewey Yancy (born June 3, 1961) is an American philosopher who is the Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Philosophy at Emory University. He is a distinguished ''Montgomery Fellow'' at Dartmouth College, one of the college's highest honors ...

has written numerous articles about Baker, explaining that he believed his work had been neglected. His wife Lizzie Baytop Baker, a leader among African American women in Western Massachusetts, predeceased him. Rev. Dr. Baker died at home from an accidental gas poisoning on February 22, 1941. His son, Dr. T. Nelson Baker, Jr., was the first African American to earn a Ph.D. in chemistry from Ohio State in 1941. His first grandson, Dr. T. Nelson Baker, III, earned a Ph.D. in chemistry from Cornell University in 1963.

Newman Taylor Baker Newman Taylor Baker (born February 4, 1943) is a jazz drummer and a washboard player. Early life Newman Taylor Baker's paternal grandfather, Thomas Nelson Baker Sr., was the only former slave to receive a PhD from Yale University (1906). His f ...

, his second grandson, and Andrea Baker, one of his great-grandchildren, are international musical artists.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Thomas Nelson 1860 births 1941 deaths People from Hampton, Virginia Yale Divinity School alumni African-American philosophers 20th-century American philosophers 20th-century African-American academics 20th-century American academics African-American Christian clergy Writers from Virginia 19th-century African-American academics 19th-century American academics 20th-century African-American people Northfield Mount Hermon School alumni