William L. Bulkley

 "William L. Bulkley, 1861-1933: African American Educator and Reformer"

Education: William L. Bulkley was born on the eve of the Civil War in South Carolina to free African American parents. He grew up in the heady days of Reconstruction.  As he reached adulthood the Jim Crow era was dawning and lasted the rest of his life.  He spent his student days at Claflin University, Orangeburg, SC; Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT; and Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, where he earned a PhD in Latin in 1893.  He pursued postdoctoral studies at the University of Strasbourg and the Sorbonne. 

Educator:  Bulkley's teaching career began at Claflin University, where he taught from 1882-1899 and served as Vice-President from 1896-1899. In 1899 Bulkley moved to New York City and was employed by the school system for 24 years. For 22 of those years he was a principal and an innovative educator. He offered social services in his schools and established an evening elementary school to teach both basic and job skills. 

Activism: Bulkley also was involved in many of the early 20th century organizations concerned with social and civil rights activism.  He established the Committee for Improving the Industrial Condition of Negroes in New York City (CIICNNY).  In 1909 and 1910 Bulkley was involved in founding the NAACP and the National Urban League. Both groups continue their missions today.

Retirement: Bulkley attended DuBois' Amenia Conference in 1916, his last act of public activism.  When he retired from the New York City schools, he moved to the south of France. He died in Nice in 1933.

Family: In 1888 Bulkley married Mary Fisher Carroll, whose father was formerly enslaved. They had seven children, five of whom lived to adulthood.  The family lived in Brooklyn, NY, and Ridgefield Park, NJ.  Only one of his children followed in his footsteps as an African American activist.  Maude married John C. Dancy, Jr., director of the Detroit Urban League.  The other four children lived as white people for much of their adult lives in France and South America, as well as the United States.

Topics: Education for African Americans, Progressive Education, Civil Rights and Social Activism, Exile, Jim Crow

 Organizations: Methodist Episcopal Church; Freedmen's Aid Society, Methodist Episcopal Church; Carlton Avenue YMCA, Brooklyn; New York City Negro Conference, 1903; Charity Organization Society; New York Association for the Protection of Colored Women; Afro-American Council; The Niagara Movement; CIICNNY; New York City Public Schools; Student's Club; Cosmopolitan Club; St. Mark's Lyceum 

LINKS

William L. Bulkley: A Brief Biography

Database of Classical Scholars: William Lewis Bulkley

Jane Addams Digital Project: William L. Bulkley (1861-1933)

William L. Bulkley, 1861-1933: African American Educator and Reformer. Purchase the book