E. Franklin Frazier and the Interfacing of Black Sociology and Black Social Work

Authors

Jerome H. Schiele, Clark Atlanta University

Abstract

E. Franklin Frazier is known almost exclusively for his scholarly contributions after the publication of his seminal book, The Negro Family in the United States. Less is known about Frazier's professional life and scholarly contributions during the period when he was Director of the Atlanta School of Social Work between 1922 and 1927. Frazier was part of that generation of black scholars who benefited from the fluid interfacing of sociology and social work characteristic of the early part of the 20th century. While director of the Atlanta School, Frazier made significant contributions to the knowledge base of social work and was one of the first to provide a "black perspective" to social work's knowledge base. To unearth and illuminate the early scholarly legacy of Frazier, this paper identifies and discusses some major themes of Frazier's writings while director of the Atlanta School of Social Work and examines their implications for contemporary social work issues. An underlying assumption of this paper is that Frazier's scholarly contributions during his tenure as director of the Atlanta School should be conceived as a reflection of the intimate nexus between black sociology and black social work that existed during the 1920s.

Recommended Citation

Schiele, Jerome H. (1999) "E. Franklin Frazier and the Interfacing of Black Sociology and Black Social Work," The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare: Vol. 26: Iss. 2, Article 7.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15453/0191-5096.2571
Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jssw/vol26/iss2/7