Pezavia O'Connell

Pezavia O'Connell (1861–1930) was a Methodist minister, scholar of Hebrew, educator, and African-American activist. He was the first African American to earn a Ph.D. in Semitic languages, which he was awarded at University of Pennsylvania in 1898.

Early life and education Pezavia O'Connell was born in Natchez, Mississippi in 1861, two months after Mississippi's secession from the Union. His parents were Richard O'Connell, identified in a 1880 census as a farmer, and Angeline O'Connell. After the war and emancipation, he pursued education. For a time he attended Jackson Baptist College and Wilberforce University in Ohio. It is an historically black college affiliated then with the Methodist Episcopal Church, North (now the United Methodist Church).

He married Maria Jane Johnson in about 1888, and they remained married 42 years until his death. They had an adopted daughter, Helen Gertrude Roberts. He earned his PhD degree from Penn in 1898, for a dissertation entitled, "Synonyms of the Clean and Unclean in Hebrew."

Career After earning his PhD, Pezavia O'Connell was hired as principal of Princess Anne Academy in Salisbury, Maryland, where he served from 1899 to 1902. It was founded as a historically black public land-grant institution of higher education. (In the 20th century it was further developed as University of Maryland Eastern Shore, (UMES), now a large research university.) O'Connell was called to be a pastor in the Methodist Episcopal Church, where he served from 1902 until 1911.

He moved to Washington, DC, where he served as a professor at Howard University Divinity School from 1911 to 1913. From 1913 to 1916 he lived again in Atlanta, where he served as a professor at his undergraduate alma mater, Gammon Theological Seminary. at Morgan College (now Morgan State University), an historically black college (HBCU) in Baltimore, Maryland. He served until his death in 1930.

Death and legacy Pezavia O'Connell died on November 26, 1930, at age 69.

O'Connell Hall, a residence hall at Morgan State University built in 1964, was named for him.