Queer Places:
Harvard University (Ivy League), 2 Kirkland St, Cambridge, MA 02138
827 KY-61, Louisville, KY 40203
Augustus
Granville Dill (November 30, 1882 — March 8, 1956[1]),
was born in Portsmouth, Ohio. His parents were John and Elizabeth Jackson. He
received his BA from Atlanta University in 1906, received a second BA from
Harvard in 1908, and received his MA in 1909 from Harvard.[2]
While in progress with his Masters at Harvard, he came under the mentorship of
W. E. B.
Du Bois. He was a member of the NAACP, and his resume is decorated with
many different jobs from business manager of The Crisis and The
Brownies' Book, curator, to musician (pianist). During his career in
academia he made early and major contributions to race relations in labor. He
was never married, and, in 1928, was arrested for homosexual activities. He
died in Louisville, Kentucky, where he had moved in 1951 to live with his
widowed sister.[1][3][4]
As a student of W. E. B. Du Bois, Granville was the joint editor of various
scholarly pieces, including "The College-Bred American Negro" (1911), "The
Common School and the Negro American" (1912), "The Negro American Artisan"
(1912) and "Morals and Manners Among Negro Americans" (1914). "Morals and
Manners Among Negro Americans" was a social study based on responses to
surveys that were sent out to African-Americans across the country in 1913. It
was a means to assess social progress.[2]
These works illustrate the racial inequalities present during the early 20th
century, when Jim Crow laws were enforced in the United States.
The Crisis was a magazine written by African Americans during the time of
the Harlem Renaissance. It had a big impact on the Harlem Renaissance. Dill
was an acquaintance of Langston
Hughes, a well known poet who submitted several poems to The Crisis.
As a result of his arrest by vice-squad detectives in 1928, Dill was fired
from The Crisis by W.E.B. Du Bois and largely withdrew from literary
activities. He earned his living thereafter by playing piano and giving music
lessons. In his autobiography Dubois later stated that he regretted his
decision to cut his ties with Dill:[5]
“I had before that time no conception of homosexuality. I had never
understood the tragedy of an Oscar
Wilde. I dismissed my co-worker [Augustus Dill] forthwith, and spent
heavy days regretting my act.”
A significant contribution made by Granville to labor was "The Negro
American Artisan", written in part with W. E. B. Du Bois and
Florence
Kelley. "The Negro American Artisan" was an Atlanta University-sponsored
sociological study covered in different Journal issues conducted from 1902 to
1912. The issues are divided into sections. The study is cast as one of "the
trained Negro laborer, his education, opportunity, wages and work".[6]
The 31st section of the 1912 edition is entitled "The Negro and Organized
Labor", wherein the two points of "(1) The attitude of Negro workmen toward
labor organizations. (2) The attitude of labor organizations toward Negro
Laborers" are assessed.[7]
The authors gathered information on various unions that had by then accepted
African Americans, such as the United Mine Workers of America; they also
examined exclusively black unions such as "The American Brotherhood of Cement
Workers"[8]
and unions from which blacks were entirely excluded, such as "Order of Railway
Conductors of America".
The rest of the section notes the attitudes of different states on African
Americans in unions. In the next section the attitude of the African American
is assessed. Some African Americans believed in unions; others did not. The
study brings to light the racial inequalities faced by the African American
labor force from 1902 to 1912.
After Reconstruction, the two prevailing schools of thought regarding
education and labor of the black American were those espoused by W. E. B. Du
Bois and
Booker T. Washington. These two scholars had opposing ideas on how the
African American should fight for equality. Washington believed in an
industrial education and in putting aside concerns about civil rights until
after economic advancement had been achieved,[9]
while Du Bois believed in a classical education, and envisioned a future
wherein educated African Americans he called the "talented tenth" would lead
the African American out of inequality. Granville is an example of the
"talented tenth" Du Bois believed in. His contributions were mostly made by
organizing rather than being a part of labor unions themselves. Dill's efforts
also signify the African American contribution to labor. With his education,
he advanced in the ranks of the NAACP as editor of The Crisis. He helped gain
recognition for the racial inequalities present in employment and labor.
My published books:
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