SCARBOROUGH, W. S. (WILLIAM SANDERS), 1852-1926.
W.S. Scarborough scrapbook, 1890-1926

Restrictions on access

Unrestricted access.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

All requests subject to limitations noted in departmental policies on reproduction.

Related Materials in Other Repositories

William Sanders Scarborough papers, 1870-1928, Rembert E. Stokes Learning Resource Center, Wilberforce University, Wilberforce, Ohio.

Related Materials in Other Repositories

William Sanders Scarborough papers, 1870-1928, Rembert E. Stokes Learning Resource Center, Wilberforce University, Wilberforce, Ohio.

Source

Purchase, 2005.

Citation

[after identification of item(s)], W.S. Scarborough scrapbook, Manuscript, Archives and Rare Book Library, Emory University.

Processing

Processed by Elizabeth Russey, June 17, 2005.

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Biographical Note

William Sanders Scarborough (1852-1926), African American author, educator, and lecturer, was born a slave on February 16, 1852 in Macon, Georgia. His mother Frances Gwynn Scarborough was a slave, although his father Jeremiah had been freed by his master in 1846. Despite state restrictions, W.S. Scarborough learned to read and write. In 1869 following emancipation, he entered Atlanta University and later attended Oberlin College in Ohio. In 1875 he graduated and returned to the South to teach, but soon became disillusioned and returned to Oberlin to complete a master's degree. Shortly thereafter, he became a professor of Latin and Greek at Wilberforce University.

In 1881 Scarborough married Sarah Bierce, a white woman who taught at Wilberforce University from 1877-1914. He left Wilberforce in 1892 to teach at Payne Seminary in Xenia, Ohio (adjacent to the Wiberforce campus), but returned in 1897 to become vice president of the university. In 1908 Scarborough was appointed president of Wilberforce University and served until resigning his position in 1920. In 1921 he was appointed to a position in the Department of Agriculture in the United States government by President Warren G. Harding, which he held until the end of 1924. Scarborough was a prolific author and lecturer and wrote frequently on civil rights issues and black folklore. He was also a leader in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. W.S. Scarborough died in Ohio in 1926.

Scope and Content Note

The collection contains a scrapbook concerning W.S. Scarborough and Wilberforce University from 1890-1926. It contains newspaper clippings relating to lectures given by Scarborough, African American politics, Wilberforce University, the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and African American education. The scrapbook contains a number of other printed items, including the constitution of the American Negro Academy, of which he was a member; a rare broadside announcement of a program of the Bethel Literary Society, Washington, D.C., dated 1881; and a broadside announcement of a camp meeting held in Cedarville, Ohio, on August 9, 1899, at both of which Scarborough spoke. The scrapbook also contains a number of printed programs in which Scarborough took part or took place at Wilberforce University. The compiler of the scrapbook is unknown.