Edward Alexander Bouchet was born September 15, 1852, in New Haven, Connecticut. He was the youngest of four children. He admired his father, William, who was a former slave and worked as a servant and porter for Yale College (later named Yale University) while serving as a deacon for the Temple Street Church.
Like his older siblings before him, Bouchet attended New Haven High School. After only two years of high school, he then continued his education at the Hopkins Grammar School. There, he studied math, history, Latin, and Greek. He graduated valedictorian from Hopkins in 1870. He was then accepted into Yale College.
In the fall of 1870, Bouchet began his undergraduate studies in pursuit of a bachelor’s degree. He graduated from Yale with his bachelor’s degree in 1874. Continuing his studies for two more years, Bouchet then went on to earn his Ph.D. in physics, in 1876. He became the first Black person to earn his doctorate degree in the U.S.
Despite his accomplishments, Bouchet was denied professorship from various institutions as a result of his race. He then landed a teaching position at the School for Colored Youth in Philadelphia. He taught chemistry and physics there for more than 25 years until the school shifted from offering Black students a quality education to offering vocational training.
After leaving the School for Colored Youth, Bouchet held several other jobs. He taught at Sumner High School in St. Louis, Missouri and then worked for the St. Paul Normal and Industrial School in Virginia. He served as the principal for Lincoln High School from 1908 to 1913.
Bouchet retired and returned to New Haven, Connecticut after his health began to fail. Edward Alexander Bouchet died October 28, 1918, at the age of 66. In 1988, Yale University installed a tombstone in honor of him and the Edward Alexander Bouchet Graduate Honor Society was established. Yale also provides the Bouchet Leadership Award in order to advance diversity.
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