February 18, 2018

Edward Alexander Bouchet was born in New Haven, Connecticut in 1852. He attended New Haven High School. He then graduated valedictorian from Hopkins Grammar school in 1870, where he studied math, history, Latin, and Greek.

Edward later attended Yale College or, as we all know it, Yale University, in the hopes of receiving his bachelor’s degree. In 1874 he graduated with his bachelor’s, but he wasn’t done yet. He stayed at Yale for two more years, completing his Ph.D. in physics and becoming the first African American to earn a doctorate degree in the US! 

Unfortunately, even with all of his education, Edward Bouchet could not get a college professorship because of his race. Instead, he taught chemistry and physics at the School for Colored Youth in Philadelphia for 25 years. It was one of the few school that offered Black students a rigorous academic program. When the school changed its direction, Edward left and performed a variety of jobs. 

He worked for Sumner High School in St. Louis in Missouri and the St. Paul Normal and Industrial School in Virginia. He was also the principal of Lincoln High School from 1908 to 1913. 

Edward Bouchet retired and returned to New Haven as his health began to fail. He died in 1918. Since his death, Yale University installed a tombstone in his honor in 1988 and Yale’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences established the Edward Alexander Bouchet Graduate Honor Society. And Yale also awards the Bouchet Leadership Award to scholars who help to advance diversity in higher education.