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Oscar Washington Ritchie (February 16, 1909 – June 16, 1967), was the first African-American professor at a predominantly White university in the state of Ohio.〔Fry, Hal. "Oscar Washington Ritchie: Biography in Brief." ''The Akron Beacon Journal'' () January 27, 1952, Section B, page 3.〕 Before his untimely demise, he held every position possible in the Sociology Department at Kent State University (KSU). ==Background and education== His hometown of Hallandale, Florida is a few miles south of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. His parents moved to Florida from the Caribbean where his father owned a fruit stand. His father died before Oscar completed high school, forcing him to drop out of school. At the age of 17 he enrolled in Florida A & M University (FAMU), where he became founder and editor of the school newspaper. The great depression of 1929 derailed his college career. He dropped out of college and joined a local band that went on the road, with him playing banjo. Their first stop was Joliet, Illinois. At their next stop, Chicago, Illinois, he met his wife Edith and they had their only child, George. Long after the band stopped Oscar and Edith remained in Chicago eking out a living for themselves. Oscar worked odd jobs for a few years and eventually got a job as a porter in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1933 he got a job in Massillon, Ohio working at Republic Steel. Unbeknownst to him beforehand, it was here, working with Greek immigrants in the Works Progress Administration, that Oscar Ritchie got his first experience as a teacher, according to his son George. This eventually became his vocation in life. By 1942 he was back in school. Only this time, he entered a predominantly White university in the state of Ohio, that was not exactly welcoming to African American students. In fact, him and his family were restricted as to where they could live and were therefore forced to live in a state of defacto segregation. This state of defacto segregation continued to exist in the town of Kent, Ohio up until the late 60s. Oscar had experienced some of the same, if not worse during his youth in Florida and evidenced in his focus on the area of Pre-law upon entering Kent. He found Sociology more to his liking and graduated in 1946, with a B.S. in Sociology, all the while working a full-time job at a steel mill in Massillon.〔Oscar W. Ritchie's Bachelor of Science diploma, issued by Kent State University August 30, 1946.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Oscar W. Ritchie」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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