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| John W. Cromwell Jet Jan 6, 1972 |
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| John W. Cromwell The Crisis May-Jun 2002 |
September 8, 1914 is a significant date for the American Mathematical Society. On this date, twenty-six years after the society's founding, it elected the first Black mathematician, John W. Cromwell, Jr, to membership. This was no trivial matter. At the time, joining the AMS involved more than filling out form and paying a membership fee. Membership required securing the endorsement of two members and then a positive vote by the society's governing body. In this blogpost, we will take a look at who Cromwell was.
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| Notice that Cromwell was elected to AMS membership AMS Bulletin, November 1914 |
John W. Cromwell, Jr. was born in Washington, D.C. on September 2, 1883. The family had risen to prominence during the years after the Civil War. His father, John W. Cromwell, Sr., was born enslaved in 1846 in Virginia, but his parents had been able to purchase the family's freedom while John, Sr. was a child, and he grew up free in Philadelphia. A young man at the end of the Civil War, the defeat of the Confederacy and the emancipation of slaves created unparalleled opportunities for him. He attended law school at the newly opened Howard University and then worked as a lawyer, government clerk, and journalist. By the time John, Jr. was born, the Cromwell family was part of D.C.'s elite Black society, and John, Sr. was a nationally recognized Black leader. He was even featured in a 1942 beer advertisement.
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| A beer advertisement featuring John W. Cromwell, Sr. The Detroit tribune., June 27, 1942, p. 14 |
For school, John W. Cromwell, Jr. attended Howard University's college preparatory program. This was essentially a high school run by the university. John graduated in spring 1901. He then enrolled at Dartmouth College.
I haven't been able to find much information about Cromwell's experience on campus. Black students had attended Dartmouth since the early 1800s, although in small numbers. He lived on campus in a single suite in Elm House.
Whatever his experience was like, John was able to succeed academically. He won a campus prize, the Thayer Prize, for mathematical excellence. (At the time, the award was given for "excellence in analytic geometry and calculus." It's unclear whether this was based on class performance or an examination.) He graduated with an A.B. degree in 1906 and then remained at the college for another year to complete an M.A. degree.
After graduating from Dartmouth, Cromwell worked at General Electric. However, he only stayed there a year. He left to return to Washington D.C. and teach high school. He first taught at the M Street High School, but most of his time was spent at the Dunbar High School. Dunbar was an elite school that ranked among the best Black high schools in the nation.
In the earlier 1920s, Cromwell became interested in accounting. He taught himself the subject and then passed the CPA examination. He was the first Black Certified Public Accountant. However, he did not immediately begin working as an accountant. Instead, he continued to teach at Dunbar.
Cromwell's teaching career came to an end in October 1930. That month, he resigned his position. His reasons are unclear, although those were clearly contentious. Several years later, Cromwell tried to get himself reinstated as a public school teacher and went so far as to file a lawsuit, but he was unsuccessful.
After leaving the teaching profession, Cromwell worked for a year as controller for Howard University and then, finally, used his CPA license and began working as an accountant. He remained in Washington D.C., working as an accountant, until he retired. Cromwell died of a heart attack in 1981 at age 88.
Cromwell is best known as the first Black CPA, and he does not appear to have been particularly involved in the AMS or in mathematics more generally. Yet his election to the American Mathematical Society is certainly notable event. Especially during the 1950s and 1960s when conflict over racial segregation became intense, structural barriers limited Black mathematicians participation in the society. Cromwell's early membership is testament to the fact that Black mathematicians have long been part of the society.
Further exploring Cromwell election to AMS membership may shed further light on the experiences of early twentieth century Black mathematicians. Something interesting appears to have happened regarding Cromwell. He remained the only Black AMS member for seven years, until a number professors at HCBUs were elected. Why there such a long gap in time? Addressing this question will require someone to dig deeper into the AMS archives.
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| John W. Cromwell at Dartmouth Black at Dartmouth |
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| John W. Cromwell, Jr. and two sisters as children Credit: Adelaide M. Cromwell |
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