William Pickens (1881-1954):
Who’s Who in Colored America

William Pickens
(circa 1909, New York Public Library)

PICKENS, WILLIAM — Educator — Author.

b. Jan. 15, 1881. Anderson Co., S. C.: s. Jacob and Fannie (Porter) Pickens; in. Minnie Cooper McAlpin, Aug. 10, 1905; three children, William, Jr., b. May 20, 1906; Harriet Ida b. March 17, 1909; Ruby Annie, b. Jan. 9, 1911; educ. A.B., Talladega Coll., Talladega, Ala.; 1902; A B., Yale Univ., 1904: diploma from Brit. Esperanto Assn., 1906; A.M., Fisk Univ., Tenn., 1908; Litt.D Selma Univ., Ala., 1915; Instr., Latin and German 1904‑09; Prof., Greek, Latin and German 1909‑14. Talledega Coll.: Prof., Greek and Sociology. Wiley Univ., Marshall, Tex., 1914‑15: Dean, Morgan Col., Baltimore, 1915‑1920; Field Sec., N.A.A.C.P., since 1920: Phi Beta Kappa (Yale); Ex‑Pres., Ala. State Teach. Assn.: mem. Nat. Assn. Teachers in Colored Schs.; Am. Negro Academy; Masons. K of P: Odd Follows: Mosaic Templar; auth. "Abraham Lincoln, Man and Statesman," 1909; "The Heir of Slaves," 1910; "Fredfrick Douglass and the Spirit of Freedom," 1912; "Fifty Years of Emancipation," 1913: "The Ultimate Effect of Segregation and Discrimination," 1915: "The New Negro," 1916; Relig. Methodist; Address 69 Fifth Ave.: Residence, 260 W. 139th St., New York, N. Y.

SOURCE: Who’s Who in Colored America, 1930-1932 (New York: Who’s Who in Colored America Corp.), p. 337.

Note: Photo does not appear in referenced work.

Supplementary Bibliography
(in addition to links below)

Books by William Pickens:

Bursting Bonds: Enlarged Edition [of] The Heir of Slaves: The Autobiography of a "New Negro"; edited by William L. Andrews. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 2005. (The African American Intellectual Heritage Series) Contents. Originally published: Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1991.

The New Negro: His Political, Civil, and Mental Status, and Related Essays. New York: The Neale Publishing Company, 1916. Reprints: New York, AMS Press, 1969. New York: Universities Press, 1969.

The Vengeance of the Gods, and Three Other Stories of Real American Color Line Life. Philadelphia: The A.M.E. Book Concern, 1922. Reprints: Freeport, NY: Books for Libraries Press, 1972. New York: AMS Press, 1975.

American Aesop: Negro and Other Humor. Boston: The Jordan & More Press, 1926. Reprint: New York, AMS Press, 1969.

Books about William Pickens:

Avery, Sheldon. Up From Washington: William Pickens and the Negro Struggle for Equality, 1900-1954. Newark: University of Delaware Press; London: Associated University Presses, 1989.

William Pickens on Esperanto
in The Voice of the Negro (1906)

"Ars Poetica #17: First Afro-American Esperantist" by Elizabeth Alexander

Volapük in the Black Press, 1888

Esperanto, Vaŝingtono, & la Mondo / Esperanto, Washington, & the World — 1910
Centjara Jubileo / Centennial — 2010

Esperanto Study Guide / Esperanto-Gvidilo

Black Studies Guide: Writings in & about Esperanto / Retgvidilo pri Negrologio: Verkoj en & pri Esperanto

alireteje / on other sites:

"Racial Segregation" by William Pickens,
Opportunity: Journal of Negro Life, December 1927

"Hate Only Hate, Fear Only Cowardice: William Pickens, a Philosopher of Activism, an Advocate for Democracy"
by C. Alvin Hughes
(Questia free trial or subscription required)