Merze Tate

Vernie Merze Tate (February 6, 1905 – June 27, 1996) was a professor, scholar and expert on United States diplomacy. She was the first African-American graduate of Western Michigan Teachers College, first African-American woman to attend the University of Oxford, first African-American woman to earn a Ph.D. in government and international relations from Harvard University (then Radcliffe College), as well as one of the first two female members to join the Department of History at Howard University.

Early life and education

Tate was born February 6, 1905, in rural Rolland Township, Michigan, to farmers Charles and Myrtle Tate. Her great-grandparents had migrated to Michigan from Ohio after receiving land through the Homestead Act.

She began attending Rolland Township Elementary School Number Five, which was located on land owned by her family. At age 13 she entered Blanchard High School. This high school was destroyed by fire and students had to attend makeshift classrooms in area buildings. Due to inadequate educational facilities, students graduated at the end of the tenth grade. Merze Tate was the youngest and only African-American graduate in her class and was selected valedictorian.

This, however, was unsatisfactory for college entrance, so she enrolled in Battle Creek High School where she maintained a straight-A average while working as a maid. As she was only enrolled in the school for two years she could not be class valedictorian. She did win the Hynman Oratorical Contest which included an award of $50. After graduation Merze applied to Western State Teachers College (now Western Michigan University) and was awarded a tuition scholarship. Tate received assistance from administrators at Western Michigan and was able to find a teaching position at Crispus Attucks High School in Indianapolis, Indiana. During her five years there, she founded a school travel club which took students to areas around the country. Whilst teaching, Tate took a part-time master's degree at Teachers College, Columbia University.

In 1932, she won an Alpha Kappa Alpha scholarship to study at Oxford University where she took a B.Litt. in International Relations in 1935. While in Europe, she also attended the Geneva School of International Studies, a summer school of international relations that took place at the Geneva Graduate Institute. Subsequently, she gained a Ph.D. from Harvard University.

In 1936, she became the history and social science department chairman at Bennett College for women, also in North Carolina, where she taught four years. She also spent a year at what is now Morgan State University, where she taught political science and was dean of women, before joining the faculty of Howard University. Tate was the first black woman to become a faculty member of their history department, and she remained there from her appointment in 1942 until her retirement in 1977.

Merze Tate in 1982Later in her life, Tate was a world traveler and international correspondent for an African-American publication. She visited the White House annually (including meetings with Eleanor Roosevelt) and attended the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Later, she served as a Fulbright Scholar to India from 1950 to 1951.

In 1964, she published an analysis of the effect of nuclear testing on the inhabitants of the Marshall Islands. Tate also designed and secured patents for a refrigerator mixing unit.

Personal life Tate was a practicing Catholic.

Publications "Australia and Self-Determination for New Guinea." The Australian Journal of Politics and History 17 (August 1971): 246–59. "Recent Constitutional Developments in Papua and New Guinea." Pacific Affairs 44 (Fall 1971): 421–27. The United States and the Hawaiian Kingdom: A Political History (New Haven, 1965) The United States and Armaments (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1948) Hawaii: Reciprocity Or Annexation ( Michigan State University Press, 1968) Inducted into Michigan Women's Hall of Fame, 1991 Distinguished Alumnus Award, American Association of State Colleges and Universities, 1981 Distinguished Alumni Award, Western Michigan University, 1970

Legacy The Merze Tate Prize for Best Article in Historical International Relations is awarded by the International Studies Association The Merze Tate Award for the best doctoral dissertation in the field of international relations, law, and politics is presented annually by the American Political Science Association The Merze Tate Explorers (formerly the Merze Tate Travel Club) began in 2008 as a project to provide additional skills to girls in grades 6–12. It was founded by Sonya Bernard-Hollins. Her hometown renamed their library as the Tate Memorial Library in her honor. Merze Tate College at Western Michigan University