1. Vernie Merze Tate was a professor, scholar and expert on United States diplomacy.
16 Facts About Merze Tate
1. 2.
Merze Tate was the first African-American graduate of Western Michigan Teachers College, first African-American woman to attend the University of Oxford, first African-American woman to earn a Ph.
3.
Merze Tate's great-grandparents had migrated to Michigan from Ohio after receiving land through the Homestead Act.
4.
Merze Tate began attending Rolland Township Elementary School Number Five, which was located on land owned by her family.
5.
Merze Tate was the youngest and only African-American graduate in her class and was selected valedictorian.
6.
Merze Tate did win the Hynman Oratorical Contest which included an award of $50.
7.
Merze Tate elected to the national social science honor society.
8.
Merze Tate received assistance from administrators at Western Michigan and was able to find a teaching position at Crispus Attucks High School in Indianapolis, Indiana.
9.
Whilst teaching, Merze Tate took a part-time master's degree at Columbia University.
10.
Merze Tate matriculated as a Home Student of St Anne's College, and was the first African-American woman member of Oxford University.
11.
Merze Tate spent a year at what is Morgan State University, where she taught political science and was dean of women, before joining the faculty of Howard University.
12.
Merze Tate was the first black woman to become a faculty member of their history department, and she remained there from her appointment in 1942 until her retirement in 1977.
13.
Later in her life, Merze Tate was a world traveler and international correspondent for an African-American publication.
14.
Merze Tate visited the White House annually and attended the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
15.
Merze Tate designed and secured patents for a refrigerator mixing unit.
16.
Merze Tate died in Washington DC, following a cardiac arrest.