Ambrose Caliver facts for kids

Ambrose Caliver (1894–1962) was an American teacher and leader who made a huge difference in how Black students were educated across the country. He spent much of his career helping adults learn to read and write. He also cared about topics like helping people who had to leave their homes, human rights, public issues, and helping older adults.

Early Life and Learning

Ambrose Caliver was born in 1894 in Saltville, Virginia. He finished Austin High School in 1911. He then went to Knoxville College in Tennessee and earned his first degree in 1915. A year later, in 1916, he married Everly Rosalie Rucker.

After college, Caliver taught at several high schools in Tennessee. He also gained experience as a high school principal. By 1917, he started working at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. This was a historically Black college, and he was in charge of their new program for job training.

Caliver continued his own education, earning a master's degree from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1921. In 1930, he earned his Ph.D. (a very high degree) in Education from Columbia University’s Teacher’s College. He was the first Black person in New York City to earn a Ph.D. and the first to get that degree in education.

Making a Difference

While at Fisk University, Caliver held many different jobs. In 1927, he was asked to become the Dean of the University. Three years later, in 1930, President Herbert Hoover gave Caliver a new important job. He became the Senior Specialist in the Education of Negroes in the United States Office of Education.

When F.D.R. became President two years later, Caliver kept his job. He also became a member of F.D.R.’s “Black Cabinet.” This was a group of influential African American advisors who helped the President.

During his time in the Cabinet, Caliver was very concerned about the unfairness in education between Black and white students. He worked hard to make people across the country aware of this problem. He traveled a lot, especially in the rural South, to show how little money was being spent on public schools for Black children.

While working for the U.S. Office of Education, he wrote many articles and reports. These focused on important topics about African American education. He also organized conferences and committees to discuss these issues. Some of his well-known articles were “The Education of Negro Teachers” and “Secondary Education for Negroes.”

To help more African Americans get higher education, Caliver also created a nine-part radio series. This series, called “Freedom Peoples,” was broadcast on NBC from 1941 to 1942. It was the first major program in mass media that focused only on the lives and history of African American people. The series covered many topics, including:

• Inventions: This part highlighted the amazing contributions of African American inventors.
• Steal Away: This showed how African Americans used their spiritual songs to turn hard times into beautiful art.
• W.C. Handy: This told the story of how the blues music style began.
• War Work: This showed the important contributions of African Americans in World War I and World War II.

Important National Studies

Ambrose Caliver did many important things during his time in the U.S. Office of Education. Perhaps his most important work was the national studies he put together. He led several big surveys, including:

• The National Survey of Teacher Education.
• The National Secondary Education Survey (1932).
• The National Survey of the Vocational and Educational Guidance of Negroes (1939).
• The National Survey of the Higher Education of Negroes.

He also collected national statistics on the education of Black students from 1933-1934 and again from 1935-1936. These studies truly changed Black education across the country. They clearly showed that there was a huge lack of high school education for African Americans.

Ambrose also advised on many national and international projects. This included the U.S. Displaced Persons Commission in 1949. A "displaced person" is someone forced to leave their home country. He also served as the president of the Adult Education Association. This group focused on helping adults get more education. He also organized the NACEN (National Advisory on the Education of Negroes). He was still serving in this role when he passed away in 1962.

Recognition

In 1937, the eighth Prairie View educational Conference aimed to "do for Texas what Caliver had done for the country." This conference was a very important discussion about Black higher education in Texas. They often referred to Caliver’s 1932 study on Black secondary education and his 1935 study on Black rural education.

In 1930, President Hoover appointed Ambrose as the Senior Specialist in the education of Negroes in the U.S. Office of Education. Years later, in 1946, he was named director of the Project for Literacy Education.

Death

Ambrose Caliver died in 1962 in Washington, D.C. He was still serving his term for the National Advisory on the Education of Negroes at the time of his death.