BHM: Ernest Everett Just

Dr. Ernest Everett Just was born on August 14, 1883 in Charleston, South Carolina. His mother worked as a teacher to support their family after his father died when Just was four years old. When he was 17 years old, he left home to get a better education up north. He received a scholarship to Kimball Union Academy where he was the only black student in attendance. From there he went to Dartmouth College where he studied biology as well as history and he was the only black student to graduate from the school magna cum laude.

After he graduated, he accepted a teaching position at Howard University where he taught zoology and later on headed the whole department. In 1909 he began work as a research assistant during the summer to Dr. Frank Lillie, who was the director of the Marine Biological Laboratory, where he studied marine eggs.

On February 2, 1915 Dr. Just became the first recipient of the prestigious Spingarn Medal of the NAACP. He was recognized for his contributions and pioneering in cell division and fertilization. In 1916 the University of Chicago awarded him with a Ph.D. in experimental embryology. He continued to receive many accolades and published many scientific articles that garnered him recognition as one of the greatest African American scientists in his field. Despite all of the recognition and respect he gained for his accomplishments, he still felt held back and  humiliated by the limitations that were posed on him as a black man. So he took a 5 year grant that he received from the Rosenwald Foundation, left his teaching position at Howard and went to Italy to continue his research. When his health began to fail, he returned to teaching at Howard University in 1940. He died of pancreatic cancer in 1941.