Roger Arliner Young

1
Roger Arliner Young
2
Roger Arliner Young

• Born in 1899 in Clifton Forge, Virginia.
• Moved with her family to Burgettstown,
  Pennsylvania, where she lived until starting
  college.
• Was an only child.
• Rogers mother was often sick and she had to
  spend much of her time and money to take care of
  her mother.
• Her family was very poor.

3
Young

• Roger was the first African-American woman to
  receive a doctorate in zoology.
• She had to overcome sexual and racial barriers to
  become the first African American woman to be
  awarded her doctorate.
• While working to earn the doctorate she had to
  juggle research and teaching with the burden of
  caring for her invalid mother.

4
School

• In 1916 she entered Howard University.
• Did not take her first science course until 1921
  under Ernest Everett Just.
• Even though she had poor grades Just saw she had
  potential.
• She participated in the Glee Club and Womens
  Christian Association.
• Graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Science in
  1923.
• In 1924 she entered the University of Chicago
  part-time, where her grades improved
  dramatically.

5

• While at the University of Chicago she joined
  Sigma Xi which was remarkable for a masters
  student.
• In 1926 she obtained her Masters Degree.
• In 1929 she returned to the University of Chicago
  for her Ph.D., where she took classes under Frank
  Lillie. She did well but failed her qualifying
  exams in January 1930.
• Tried one last time for her Ph.D. at the
  University of Pennsylvania in June of 1930.
• In 1937 she started her doctorate under L. V.
  Heilbrunn. She finally earned her Ph.D. in 1940.

6
Ernest Everett Just was Youngs mentor.
7
Mentorship

• Just started mentoring Young when she was at
  Howard her grades were poor but he saw promise
  in her.
• Youngs relationship with Just improved her
  skills as he continued to work with her.
• Just found funding for Young to attend graduate
  school since her family was poor.

8

• Just invited her to work with him at Woods Hole,
  Massachusetts during the summers at the Marine
  Biology Laboratory. She helped him with the
  research on fertilization process and marine
  organisms. Along with this she worked on the
  process of hydration and dehydration in living
  cells.
• Just called Young A real genius in Zoology.

9

• In 1929 Young stood in for Just as the head of
  the Howard Zoology Department, while Just worked
  on a grant project in Europe. This is one of the
  many stand-in appointments for Young which gave
  her more experience in the field.
• Just started to reduce her of her position in
  1933. This could be due to rumors of a romance
  between Just and Young.
• There was a confrontation in 1935 and in 1936
  she was fired for mistreating lab equipment and
  missing classes.

10
After School

• Young never married.
• In 1950, after many hard years of work, she
  developed mental health issues.
• She worked on short contracts in Texas and at
  Jackson State College in Mississippi.
• During her time in Mississippi in the late
  1950s, she was hospitalized at the State Mental
  Asylum.
• She was discharged from the hospital in 1962.
• Went to Southern University.
• Died poor and alone in New Orleans on November
  9, 1964.

11
Schools Young Taught At

• Howard University
• North Carolina College for Negroes
• Shaw University
• North Carolina
• Colleges in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

12
Contributions to the Science World

• She performed many studies on hydration and
  dehydration of living cells.
• The effects of direct and indirect radiation on
  sea urchin eggs.
• Structures that control the salt concentration in
  paramecium.
• Published many books and several papers between
  1935 and 1938 on the results and findings of her
  studies.

13
Her Continuing Effects

• Her contributions further increased the study of
  marine biology.
• Helped to improve and secure marine environments.
• Some of her studies are used to explore and
  understand how living cells interact with each
  other, minerals, and substances.

14
Roger Arliner Young overcame many obstacles to
achieve her position as a the first African
American zoologist with a Ph.D. She opened the
doors for both woman and blacks who wanted to
contribute to the scientific world.