LIBRARY BLOG
Albert Beckham
First African American School Psychologist
Albert Sidney Beckham. PhD
American Psychology Association
As time went on the observance grew to encompass the full month of February to extend and deepen the study of African American history—to acknowledge the accomplishments of an entire race, not only the accomplishments of a few great men. It is the sum of what these pioneers set in motion and the continued accomplishments of many others that mark history. Now it is our duty as a society to keep things in motion by shedding light on those that let their passions drive them to progress the human experience despite the adversity African Americans have faced for hundreds of years.
Specifically in the field of child psychology, Albert Sidney Beckham is considered the first African American school psychologist. The field of psychology is a new science in the grand scheme of things, which is why the standard of practice varies across the board. However, it is because of pioneers like Beckham that we can base more modern research on his early foundation. Mental health is being explored now more than ever. Even more importantly, with the high rates of adolescent suicide, children’s psychology is an essential science.
Albert Beckham earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Lincoln University; he continued his education by earning a master’s degree from Ohio University. As Beckham advanced his education, he was determined to fight for his country in World War I. After being rejected from the aviation division multiple times, Beckham was finally offered a position as a War Professor of Psychology at Wilberforce University, a private, historically African American university. Upon completing his duties Beckham moved to New York City to begin his doctoral study in psychology. Howard University offered Beckham a position as professor of psychology. In fact, Beckham taught every psychology course offered by the university. He established the first psychology lab on campus which provided counseling, intelligence testing, and consultations.
Beckham’s time at Howard expanded the field of psychology in higher education, but Beckham was drawn back to New York City to complete his doctoral studies in educational psychology. The Institute of Juvenile Research in Illinois offered Beckham a position treating childhood disorders, administering vocational and educational tests, providing in-service training to teachers, and conducting mental health assessments of children. He met Ruth Winifred Howard, another psychologist, and married her. The couple started their own private practice. In addition, Mr. Beckham went on to become a school psychologist working for the Chicago public schools.
For over three decades Albert Beckham, a prolific writer and researcher, made extensive contributions to the field of psychology, publishing over 20 articles on the effect of counseling on high school students, childhood behavioral problems, intelligence testing, and life satisfaction. Beckham also established the first psychological clinics in a U.S. public school at DuSable High School, a historically African American school in Chicago. Beckham helped to change the mainstream belief that African Americans were inherently inferior by providing alternative theories based on hundreds of hours of research, surveying, and interviewing thousands of individuals. Beckham’s lifetime of accomplishments continues to impact lives today.
Read more on Black History Month at Terrebonne Parish Library:
Sources
Library of Congress, et al. “Black History Month.” Black History Month, https://africanamericanhistorymonth.gov/about/.
Featured Psychologist: Albert Sidney Beckham, PhD. American Psychological Association, 2014, https://www.apa.org/pi/oema/resources/ethnicity-health/psychologists/albert-sidney-beckham.
Graves Jr., Scott L. “Albert Sidney Beckham: The First African American School Psychologist.” School Psychology International, vol. 30, no. 1, Feb. 2009, pp. 5–23. EBSCOhost, doi.org/10.1177/0143034308101847.