Professional Documents
Culture Documents
About four years ago I came across the Mathema- the value of an education which then led him to
ticians of the African Diaspora website and dis- encourage his son, Elbert, to succeed.
covered that the first Black in the world to earn a In 1913 Elbert graduated from Clark High School
Ph.D. in mathematics was from my neighborhood and enrolled at Indiana University. In 1915 Cox
in Evansville, Indiana. While growing up, no one joined Kappa Alpha Psi, which is a Black fraternity
talked to me about Elbert Frank Cox, who is the that emphasizes achievement. When Cox received
first Black in the world to earn a Ph.D. in mathemat- his transcript from IU, it had Colored Student
ics. After stumbling upon Elbert, excitement came printed across the top. At that time it was common
over me and then I became curious about who he for colleges and universities to distinguish race on
was and what motivated him to be successful in an academic transcript. By doing so, employers
would immediately know if the person was Black
mathematics.
so that they could grant or deny a position based
In 2001 I became the second African American
on race.
from Evansville to earn a Ph.D. in mathematics.
After graduation, Cox taught for a year at Alves
Thus, I felt a personal responsibility and an ob-
Street School in Henderson, Kentucky. Later he en-
ligation to give Evansville and the world an op-
tered the U.S. Army and taught at Shaw University.
portunity to thank Elbert for his accomplishments He had enrolled in summer graduate classes at
as they opened doors for me and many other Cornell University as early as 1920 to learn more
mathematicians. about science. After a couple of years Cox left Shaw
In 1895 Elbert Frank Cox was born to Johnson to study mathematics at Cornell University. Under
and Eugenia Cox at 715 Oak Street in Evansville, the supervision of William Lloyd Garrison Williams,
Indiana (which is located less than one mile from Cox completed and successfully defended his
where I grew up). Elberts father, Johnson D. Cox, dissertation Polynomial Solutions of Difference
was principal and teacher for over forty years at Equations. In 1925 he became the first African
Third Avenue School. In those days the Evansville
schools were segregated and Third Avenue School
was an elementary school for African Americans.
There is no confirmation that J. D. had an advanced
degree but it was common to not have a college
Photograph courtesy of the author.
Talitha M. Washington is assistant professor of mathemat- The author and the plaque dedicated to J. D.
ics at the University of Evansville. Her email address is Cox and his son Elbert Frank Cox in Evansville,
tw65@evansville.edu. Indiana.