John Wesley Gilbert is generally regarded as the first African American archaeologist. Gilbert was born into slavery in Georgia on July 6, 1864. After the Civil War and the abolition of slavery, he completed his primary and secondary education as well as earning work as a farm hand.
In 1884 he was accepted to Paine College, where he studied for two years before transferring to Brown University in 1886 after the president of Paine offered to fund the transfer. Gilbert had a particular interest in ancient languages, and while at Brown, he received a scholarship to attend the American School of Classics in Athens, Greece.
He was the first African American to attend that school, and during his time there, he was bestowed an award for “excellence” in Greek. Participating in archaeological excavations throughout Greece, he discovered Eretria’s ancient pillars, gates, and walls. He traced the walls, located the structure’s towers, and then worked with his team to produced the first map of Ancient Eretria.
These experiences led Gilbert to pursue a Master’s degree in archaeology, where his thesis focused on the villages at Attica. In 1891, Gilbert completed his thesis and became the first African American to receive a Master’s from Brown. In 1913, he was appointed president of Miles College in Birmingham, a position he held for one year.
Throughout the early 20th century, Gilbert focused much of his time on improving the status of African Americans, especially regarding quality and access to education, criticizing the use of textbooks written by and for a white audience. Demanding a review of the education system, Gilbert sought reforms that would allow young black Americans to “write and to discover their own worthiness”, thereby carving a space from which they could actively contribute to the broader American tradition with their own perspectives.
He died on November 19, 1923.
His most enduring contribution may be as teacher and preacher in the South, where his students and the community benefited from his scholarship and lectures. Gilbert is said to have influenced another prominent African American from Augusta, John Hope, the first Black president of Morehouse College and one of the founding members of the Niagara Movement.