Frazier, E. Franklin (1894–1962)

Frazier was an African American teacher and sociologist who specialized in analyzing black family structures and race relations in the United States. He earned his Ph.D. at the University of Chicago. His most famous book, The Negro Family in the United States (1939) was an early effort to explore the historical forces affecting the black family. Frazier taught at Morehouse, Fisk, and Howard and influenced generations of black students. Before his death, he published 8 books and myriad articles. He has been criticized by some for claiming that black families were dysfunctional because of absent fathers, a fact that he tied to the heritage of slavery.