Alan T. Busby

Alan Thacker Busby (December 12, 1895 – June 10, 1992) was an American animal scientist and educator who taught at two historically black universities. He was the first African American to attend the University of Connecticut, earning his bachelor's degree with honors in 1918.[1]

Alan T. Busby
Busby in 1969
Born
Alan Thacker Busby

(1895-12-12)December 12, 1895
Worcester, Massachusetts, US
DiedJune 10, 1992(1992-06-10) (aged 96)
Jefferson City, Missouri, US
Alma materCornell University (MS)
University of Connecticut (BS)
OccupationProfessor of Animal Husbandry

Early life and education

Busby was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, on December 12, 1895, into one of the city's most prominent African American families. His father was George Alfred Busby (1857–1934), owner of a tailoring and dry cleaning business and Worcester's first Black alderman, serving in 1903 and 1904.[2] His mother was Jennie Cora Clough (1857–1928), Worcester's first Black schoolteacher and a 1878 alumna of Worcester Normal School.[3]

Busby 1914 yearbook photo

Alan Busby had one brother, George Clough Busby (b. 1897).[3] Alan attended Worcester English High School from 1910 through June 1914.[4]

Busby in 1918

Busby enrolled in Connecticut Agricultural College in 1914 and graduated with his Bachelor of Science degree in 1918. He told The Daily Campus student newspaper that he chose UConn because some of his high school friends were going there and because the University of Massachusetts was full. Charles L. Beach found him a job at the college dairy and horse farms, and Busby paid his way through college.[5] He also worked as a resident assistant.[6] Busby was an honors student and played football during his junior year.[1] He also served as a news editor of the Connecticut Campus.[7] Busby was the first African American student to attend the college and was the only Black student during all four years of his studies there.[6]

Graduating in May 1918, Busby immediately joined the United States Army. An ROTC cadet while at UConn, Busby served in the all-black 349th Field Artillery Regiment during World War I, attaining the rank of second lieutenant. He remained stationed in France for months after the war.[1]

Following his military service, he worked briefly again at Storrs and then managed a farm in Paxton, Massachusetts.[8]

Academic career

Busby's next stop was the Bordentown School in New Jersey, where he taught agriculture and science and ran the dairy farm from 1919 to 1921.[9] He served as Professor of Animal Husbandry and livestock manager at Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College in Alcorn, Mississippi, from 1921 to 1943. In 1932, Busby took a one-year leave of absence from his position at Alcorn to earn a Master of Science degree from Cornell University.[10] His master's thesis was entitled "A Study of Hereditary Influences on the Transmission of Butter-fat Test in Holstein-Friesian Cattle."[11]

Moving on from Alcorn after more than twenty years of service, Busby took a position as assistant professor of animal husbandry and dairying at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri. He worked at Lincoln from 1943 to 1966, when he retired.[1][12] He took on additional responsibilities as counselor to student veterans between 1945 and 1969, continuing in this role even after his retirement.[9][13] He was one of only three Lincoln faculty to appear on the membership roll of the American Association of University Professors in 1944.[14] He earned a salary of US$4,680 in 1952[15] and $9,000 in 1966.[16]

Busby was elected president of the South Central Athletic Conference in 1933[10] and again in 1943.[17] In 1950, he founded the Lincoln University Federal Credit Union and served as the organization's president and treasurer. In retirement, he became president of the Men's Garden Club of Jefferson City.[9]

Busby died on June 10, 1992, at the age of 96. He was interred at the Hawthorn Memorial Cemetery in Jefferson City, alongside his wife Edith Marie Oliver Busby (1894–1973). Edith Busby had been a schoolteacher in New Jersey, where the couple met and married. They had no issue.[18]

Honors

Busby received the UConn Alumni Association's Distinguished Alumni Award in 1969. At age 95, Busby served as grand marshal of the 1990 homecoming parade at UConn.[1][19]

The Alan T. Busby Suites, formerly the Charter Oak Suites, a residence hall at the University of Connecticut's main campus in Storrs, was named in his honor in 2006.[20]

The Alan T. Busby Research Farm at Lincoln University, one of the largest certified organic research farms in the United States, was named in his honor.[21]

References
  1. Smith, Laura (2015-02-02). "Alan Thacker Busby, the university's first African-American student". Archives and Special Collections Blog. Retrieved 2021-01-18.
  2. Coleman III, William S. (2009-06-15). "Black like me: Worcester's Black leaders – a brief history (part 1)". incitytimesworcester.org. Retrieved 2021-01-18.
  3. Coleman III, William S. (2009-06-15). "Worcester's first African-American school teachers: Jennie Cora Clough and Sarah Ella Wilson | InCity Times". incitytimesworcester.org. Retrieved 2021-01-18.
  4. Worcester (Mass.) (1915). City Document ...: Annual Reports of the Several Departments for the Fiscal Year Ending December 31, ... The City. p. 888.
  5. Stave, Bruce M; Burmeister, Laura (2006). Red brick in the land of steady habits: creating the University of Connecticut, 1881-2006. Storrs, Conn]; Hanover: University of Connecticut ; University Press of New England. ISBN 978-1-58465-569-5. OCLC 63679929.
  6. DeBow, Kevin (1990-10-25). "AACC hosts alumnus: First African-american graduate to visit UConn". Connecticut Daily Campus. 94 (36): 1, 4 – via Connecticut Digital Archive.
  7. "Managing Board". Connecticut Campus. 4 (14). 1918-05-03. Retrieved 2020-01-17.
  8. "University of Connecticut Board of Trustees Meeting Agenda". Connecticut Digital Archive. 2006-06-20. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  9. "Association Laurels Bloom in the Spring". Connecticut Alumnus. 42 (3): 35. 1969 – via Connecticut Digital Archive.
  10. Wilson, Charles H. (1947). Education for Negroes in Mississippi since 1910. Boston: Meador Publishing Company. pp. 338–39, 432.
  11. Busby, Alan Thacker (1932). A study of hereditary influences on the transmission of butter-fat test in Holstein-Friesian cattle (Thesis). Ithaca, N.Y.
  12. "College and School News". The Crisis. 50. 1943. Retrieved 2020-01-17.
  13. "Lincoln Vets". Atlanta Daily World. 1945-11-17. Retrieved 2020-01-17 – via ProQuest.
  14. "AAUP bulletin. v.30 1944". HathiTrust. p. 302. Retrieved 2021-01-18.
  15. "State of Missouri Official Manual, 1951-1952". HathiTrust. p. 518. Retrieved 2021-01-18.
  16. "State of Missouri Official Manual, 1965-1966". HathiTrust. Retrieved 2021-01-18.
  17. "Physical fitness program for south central A. C.". The Chicago Defender. 1943-02-06. Retrieved 2020-01-17 – via ProQuest.
  18. "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch, accessed 21 January 2021
  19. Roy, Mark J (2001). University of Connecticut. Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia. ISBN 978-0-7385-0856-6. OCLC 47956317.
  20. Veilleux, Richard (2006-09-25). "Residence halls to be named in honor of early alumni". UConn Advance. Retrieved 2021-01-18.
  21. "Alan T. Busby Research Farm". Lincoln University Cooperative Extension and Research. 2016. Retrieved 2020-01-17.
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