Oct 19, 2025
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Türkiye
seen from Netherlands
seen from China
seen from China
seen from China
seen from Canada
seen from United Kingdom
seen from Russia
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from China
seen from Sweden
seen from China
seen from United Kingdom
seen from China
seen from Czechia
seen from Sweden
Saint Elmo Brady was the first African American to obtain a Ph.D. degree in chemistry in the United States
-
Brady received his bachelor''s degree from Fisk University in 1908 at the age of 24, and immediately began teaching at Tuskegee Institute. Brady had a close relationship with and was mentored by Booker T. Washington and George Washington Carver. In 1912, after his time at Tuskegee University, he was offered a scholarship to the University of Illinois to engage in graduate studies. Saint Elmo Brady was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
-
Brady was the first African American to receive a Ph.D. in chemistry in the United States, which he received from the University of Illinois in 1916.
-
During his time at Illinois, Brady became the first African American admitted to the university''s chemical honor society, Phi Lambda Upsilon, (1914), and he was one of the first African Americans to be inducted into Sigma Xi, the science honorary society (1915).
-
After completing his graduate studies, Brady taught at Tuskegee University from 1916 to 1920. Brady accepted a teaching position at Howard University in Washington, D.C., in 1920 and eventually became the Chair of Howard University''s Chemistry Department.
-
In 1927 he moved to Fisk University to chair the school''s Chemistry department. He remained at Fisk for 25 years until his retirement in 1952. While serving as the chair for the Chemistry department at Fisk University, Brady founded the first ever graduate studies program at a Black College/University. After his retirement from Fisk, he taught at Tougaloo College
-
Brady''s legacy was his establishment of strong undergraduate curricula, graduate programs, and fundraising development for four HBCUS. In conjunction with faculty from the University of Illinois, he established a summer program in infrared spectroscopy, which was open to faculty from all colleges and universities.
-
Talley-Brady Hall on the Fisk campus is named for Brady and another Fisk alumnus, Thomas Talley
Learn more about our history of racial injustice.
In February 1960, hundreds of volunteers—primarily Black college students—huddled into the basement of First Baptist Church in Nashville, Tennessee, for what became the first mass meeting of the sit-in movement. The students planned a series of sit-ins designed to challenge racial segregation at lunch counters.
On February 13, 1960, 500 students from Nashville’s four Black colleges—Fisk University, Tennessee State, Meharry Medical, and the Baptist Seminary—filed into the downtown stores to request service at segregated establishments. White merchants refused to serve the Black students and petitioned the police to arrest them for “trespassing” and “disorderly conduct.” On February 26, the chief of police warned student demonstrators that their “grace period” was over and threatened legal retaliation. The demonstrators were not dissuaded.
The next morning, scores of students marched downtown silently to stage sit-ins at their designated stores. As they passed, white teenagers gathered to scream racial epithets and hurl rocks and lit cigarettes at them. Instead of intervening to prevent the assaults and harassment, police arrested 77 African American student demonstrators and five white students who had joined their protest.
The 82 arrested activists were tried and convicted in a consolidated one-day trial on February 29. Afterward, they were given a “choice” between jail time and a monetary fine. A 22-year-old Fisk University student named Diane Nash informed the judge that 14 of the convicted demonstrators had chosen jail. Standing in open court, she explained that paying the fine “would be contributing to and supporting the injustice and immoral practices that have been performed in the arrest and conviction of the defendants.” Ms. Nash’s speech persuaded more than 60 of the convicted demonstrators to change their minds and also serve jail time rather than pay the fine.
The sight of dozens of Black college students being carted off to jail convinced the mayor of Nashville to release the students and appoint a biracial committee to make recommendations for desegregating downtown stores. The success of the Nashville sit-ins quickly made them a model for other segregated Southern communities to emulate. By the end of February, sit-in campaigns were underway in 31 Southern cities across eight states.
As a result of her persistence and bravery, Diane Nash emerged as a civil rights leader. She joined the Freedom Rides in 1961 and helped achieve the desegregation of interstate buses and facilities.
Saint Elmo Brady (1884-1966)
Born in Louisville, Kentucky in 1884, Saint Elmo Brady became the first African American to earn a Ph.D. in the field of chemistry when he completed his graduate studies at the University of Illinois in 1916. The eldest child of Thomas and Celesta Brady, Saint Elmo had two younger sisters, Fedora and Buszeder. Brady studied chemistry at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee and earned his B.S. degree in 1908. After graduation he accepted a faculty position at Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute (now known as Tuskegee University) and was mentored by George Washington Carver and Booker T. Washington, President of Tuskegee. He began graduate studies in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Illinois in 1912, earning his M.S. degree in 1914 and completing his doctorate in 1916. As a graduate student at Illinois, Brady’s research focused on the characterization of organic acids. Brady eventually published three abstracts focused on his graduate work in Science, a prestigious peer-reviewed journal. After completing his doctorate, Brady returned to Tuskegee and continued teaching until 1920. He also served as chair and faculty of the Department of Chemistry at Howard University and Fisk University. Regarding his scholarly achievements, Brady continued collaborative work with the University of Illinois and established a faculty training program focusing on a technique known as infrared spectroscopy, which is used to identify various components in compounds. Moreover, he later published an article focused on the synthesis of a halogen compound with Dr. Samuel Massie, the first African American to join the faculty at the U.S. Naval Academy. Brady's work was important because there was significant interest in halogen compounds being used as insecticides at that time. Samuel Massie, who went on to work on the Manhattan Project in World War II, was one of several students that Brady mentored while teaching at Fisk University, thus encouraging African Americans to pursue careers in the chemical sciences. Although Brady officially retired from teaching in 1952, he took a position at Tougaloo College outside Jackson, Mississippi to help develop the chemistry department and recruit faculty. Brady married Myrtle Travers and they had two sons, Robert and St. Elmo Brady, Jr. who worked as a physician. St. Elmo Brady died on Christmas Day in 1966 Washington, D.C. He was 82
UMich vs Fisk vs Denver meet notes:
-Fisk had a gymnast that landed on her head on the ground from bars and proceeded to still do beam :| Their final passes on floor make me terrified for their ankles :(
-Denver had it’s highest vault scores ever in program history
-Denver 197??!?!?!? Their staff was so nice after the meet and between rotations when they stopped by to chat :)
- UMich hits over 198 (not sure how I feel abt that with them peaking early last year 🫥)
-There was a huge crowd and line to take pictures and talk with the Fisk team after the meet :,)