Snowden, Frank M., Jr. 1911-2007 (Frank Martin Snowden, Jr.)

OBITUARY NOTICE—

See index for CA sketch: Born July 17, 1911, in York County, VA; died of congestive heart failure, February 18, 2007, in Washington, DC. Historian, educator, and author. Snowden was a pioneer of the history of African peoples living in ancient Greece and Rome. Also unique as an African American studying classical history in a field dominated by white scholars, Snowden was a Harvard graduate. He earned a bachelor's in 1932, his master's in 1933, and his doctorate in 1944. His teaching career began at Virginia State College in 1933, and he taught at Spelman College in the late 1930s before joining the Howard University faculty in 1942. His first book, Blacks in Antiquity: Ethiopians in the Greco-Roman Experience (1970) opened many eyes with its assertion that blacks in ancient Rome and Greece were often respected citizens, and that racial prejudice against them was fairly uncommon. Although not all historians agreed fully with his position, they gratefully acknowledged Snowden for delving into a little-discussed aspect of ancient history. Snowden followed this work with a related title, Before Color Prejudice: The Ancient View of Blacks (1983). Chairing the classics department at Howard from 1942 to 1977, he was also the director of the summer school through the 1940s and early 1950s and director of the evening school and adult education during the 1940s. Snowden, though, met with some controversy as dean of Howard University from 1956 until 1968. Toward the end of this tenure, he came into conflict with students who disagreed with Snowden's stand against Afrocentrism, especially since he was black and they felt he should support their views. During the Vietnam War protests, the professor was burned in effigy by students, and by 1968 Snowden had had enough and resigned his post as dean. He remained a professor at Howard, however, until his retirement in 1991. Named distinguished member of the faculty in 1977, he was honored by the President George W. Bush in 2003 with a National Humanities Medal.

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Los Angeles Times, February 27, 2007, p. B9.

New York Times, February 28, 2007, p. C17.

Washington Post, February 22, 2007, p. B7.