Earl E. Thorpe

Earlie Endris Thorpe (November 9, 1924 – January 30, 1989) was a professor of history, an author, and clergyman in the United States. He lived in Durham, North Carolina and was a professor at North Carolina Central University for 27 years. Duke University has a collection of his papers and correspondence.

Thorpe served in Italy during World War II. He earned bachelor's and master's degrees in history from North Carolina College for Negroes. He earned a Ph.D. in History from Ohio State University in 1953.

He and his wife, Martha Vivian Branch, had two daughters: Rita Harrington and Gloria Earl.

Writings "Negro Historiography in the United States", dissertation Negro Historians in the United States (1958) The Desertion of Man: A Critique of Philosophy of History (1958) The Mind of the Negro: An Intellectual History of Afro-Americans (1961) Eros and Freedom in Southern Life and Thought (1967) The Central Theme of Black History (1969) "The Black Experience in America" editor, ten-booklet series Struggle for a nation's conscience : the civil rights movement Pioneers and Planters; Black Beginnings in America with Joseph Penn, American Education Publications (1971) The Old South: A Psychohistory (1972) "Black history and the organic perspective : an essay to introduce the directory and bibliography no. 870-872" (1975) "The uses of Black history : a speech delivered during the observance of Black History Week", February 11, 1980 African Americans and the Sacred: Spirituals, Slave Religion, and Symbolism (1982) Slave Religion, Spirituals, and C. J. Jung (1983) A Concise History of North Carolina Central University (1984)