Abstract
Charles Ullman Smith, known to colleagues and friends as C. U., passed away on Tuesday, April 21, 2015, in Tallahassee, Florida. The youngest of three sons whose parents were graduates of the Tuskegee Institute and Knoxville College, C. U. was an ardent supporter of historically Black colleges and universities and a promoter of social justice for everyone.
C. U. was a member of the American Sociological Association’s (ASA) Caucus of Black Sociologists (CBS). For many years, CBS fought within ASA for greater participation at its annual meeting and equal access to the organization’s appointed committees and elected positions. C. U. took a firm stance when CBS developed a proposal in the late 1960s to separate itself from ASA and establish an independent organization called the Association of Black Sociologists (ABS). There was no unanimous decision on the proposal, as C. U. and others stood firm in their belief that CBS should remain a part of ASA and work within its structure to correct any challenges and obstacles.
In 1980, nearly 10 years after the establishment of ABS, C. U. founded ASA’s Section on Racial and Ethnic Minorities (SREM). Articulating his vision for SREM, he said, The ideal that I visualize for SREM is that it will constantly seek to maintain and develop the highest levels of interest in, scholarly concern about, and professional focus upon, all aspects of racial and ethnic minorities within the sociological domain. (Brunsma, Embrick, and Nanney 2015:1)
It is quite provident that as C. U. began the final year of his life, SREM published the first volume of its journal, Sociology of Race and Ethnicity. Noting C. U.’s role in providing a vision for the eventual SREM journal, Brunsma et al. wrote, Charles U. Smith, founder of SREM, set the rich tone [for the eventual establishment of the journal] in 1980 by focusing a great deal of energy into the Section’s newsletter, Remarks. Those early editions show a group of highly dedicated colleagues who cared deeply about the ideals envisioned by C. U. Smith as highlighted [in the quotation above]. (p. 4)
C. U. earned his undergraduate degree at the Tuskegee Institute and master’s degree from Fisk University during the presidential tenure of pioneer Black sociologist and first African American president of the Southern Sociological Society Charles S. Johnson. After receiving his master’s degree, he joined the faculty at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) in 1946, only to leave two years later to pursue doctoral training at Washington State University (WSU). C. U. returned to FAMU in 1950 after becoming the first African American to take the doctorate at WSU (Sorensen 2012). He remained at FAMU throughout his career until his retirement in 1997.
A man of many accomplishments, C. U. authored 14 books and over 70 articles on topics including Black protest, civil rights, the psychic costs of segregation, integration and segregation in the schools, and changing U.S. race relations. He served in leadership positions including, but not limited to, service as president of the Association of Social and Behavioral Scientists and the Southern Sociological Society. Awards he received include, but are not limited to, the Charles S. Johnson Award (Southern Sociological Society) for excellence in research on race and the South and the Cox-Johnson Frazier Award (ASA) for excellence in research on issues of social justice, with an eye toward advancing the status of disadvantaged populations. Because of his significant contributions to the discipline, an award was created in his honor by the Association of Social and Behavioral Scientists. The C. U. Smith Junior Faculty Award recognizes significant contributions of early and midcareer sociologists whose works center on the area of race. Currently, the Southern Sociological Society is nearing the implementation of an award bearing C. U.’s name in honor of his tremendous contributions to the discipline and organization.
C. U. is survived by his only child, Shauna Smith (a professor at Tallahassee Community College), two grandchildren, and two great grandchildren.