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The First Black Archaeologist: A Life of John Wesley Gilbert
The First Black Archaeologist reveals the untold story of a pioneering African American classical scholar, teacher, community leader, and missionary. Born into slavery in rural Georgia, John Wesley Gilbert (1863-1923) gained national prominence in the early 1900s, but his accomplishments are little known today. Using evidence from archives across the US and Europe, from contemporary publications, and from newly discovered documents, this book chronicles Gilbert's remarkable journey. As we follow Gilbert from the segregated public schools of Augusta, Georgia, to the lecture halls of Brown University, to his hiring as the first black faculty member of Augusta's Paine Institute, and through his travels, we learn about the development of African American intellectual and religious culture, and about the enormous achievements of an entire generation of black students and educators.
Listeners interested in the early development of American archaeology in Greece will find an entirely new perspective here, as Gilbert was one of the first Americans of any race to do archaeological work in Greece. Those interested in African American history and culture will gain an invaluable new perspective on a leading yet hidden figure of the late 1800s and early 1900s, whose life and work touched many different aspects of the African American experience.
Listeners interested in the early development of American archaeology in Greece will find an entirely new perspective here, as Gilbert was one of the first Americans of any race to do archaeological work in Greece. Those interested in African American history and culture will gain an invaluable new perspective on a leading yet hidden figure of the late 1800s and early 1900s, whose life and work touched many different aspects of the African American experience.
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First published January 3, 2022
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January 14, 2024While I'm grateful for the work that the author did compiling the very limited information we have on John Wesley Gilbert, I am afraid this book fell quite flat for me.
As I mentioned before, the limited information available gave this book a very uncertain, practically watery tone most of the time. There were quite a few 'maybes' and 'perhaps' utilized, which sometimes made this feel like I was reading someone's notes on this man, instead of his biography. Pairing that with a rather dull writing style made this a sometimes difficult read.
With that being said, I am still glad I read it and for the small glimpse into this underappreciated man's life. I will not soon forget him, though the book itself may soon be forgotten.
As I mentioned before, the limited information available gave this book a very uncertain, practically watery tone most of the time. There were quite a few 'maybes' and 'perhaps' utilized, which sometimes made this feel like I was reading someone's notes on this man, instead of his biography. Pairing that with a rather dull writing style made this a sometimes difficult read.
With that being said, I am still glad I read it and for the small glimpse into this underappreciated man's life. I will not soon forget him, though the book itself may soon be forgotten.
April 8, 2022
Felt the title was misleading since while Gilbert may have been the first black person or first black American person to have worked on an archaeological site, it was not his career nor even the focus of his life, only a few short weeks of his time in Greece studying for his master's degree. Unfortunately, while Lee obviously did a lot of research, there wasn't enough information available for him to flesh out Gilbert into a real person & instead Gilbert is left a shadowy figure in his own biography. Appreciated the photos & maps & the background information about Greece at that time, but ultimately the book wasn't what I thought & hoped it would be
September 16, 2025
This is a fascinating life of John Wesley Gilbert, American archaeologist, educator, and Methodist missionary to the Congo.
Gilbert was born to slaves in Georgia and grew up in Augusta. He was named after John Wesley, the founder of Methodism. He grew up in the tumultuous Reconstruction era and this book suggests a life that successfully took advantage of the new opportunities and none of the travails such as those recounted in Klan War: Ulysses S. Grant and the Battle to Save Reconstruction are related here. In 1884, he enrolled in the newly opened Paine Institute (later known as Paine College), which had been established as an "interracial" venture between the Methodist Episcopal Church, South (MECS) and the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church (CME). George Williams Walker, the MECS minister and president of Paine from 1884 to 1910, became a lifelong mentor to Gilbert. In 1886, Gilbert was given financial assistance to transfer into the junior class of Brown University. The source of this assistance is obscure, but it feels to me like a community source and makes me that of that received by Nina Simone. There, he was among the first ten black students to attend the school and among the forty African-Americans to graduate from any northern university between 1885 and 1889. While at Brown, Gilbert received a scholarship to attend the American School of Classical Studies in Athens, Greece—at the encouragement of Albert Harkness, a prominent classicist and professor at Brown and a founding member of the American School's Managing Committee. This was during an exciting time when following Greece independence from the Ottoman Empire.
(Greece gained independence from the Ottoman Empire in the early 19th century after the Greek War of Independence of 1821–1829 against centuries of Ottoman rule. The conflict concluded with the Treaty of Adrianople, leading to Greek autonomy, which was solidified by the London Protocol in 1830. This established Greece as an independent kingdom, recognized by the Great Powers—Britain, France, and Russia—which had intervened to ensure a Greek victory.)
He was the first African American to attend that school, and remained the only one to have done so through 1901. He was there from 1890 to 1891 and conducted archaeological excavations on Eretria with John Pickard, producing the first map of Ancient Eretria. Their work supposedly uncovered the "tomb of Aristotle", a claim that was quickly disproven. For his work in Greece, Gilbert in 1891 became the first African-American to receive an advanced degree from Brown. He received his master's thesis on the topic of "The Demes of Attica" (now unfortunately lost).
In 1911 and 1912, Gilbert undertook a mission to the Belgian Congo with Walter Russell Lambuth, a (white) bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Gilbert and Lambuth successfully established a church and school in the village of Wembo-Nyama.
Gilbert was born to slaves in Georgia and grew up in Augusta. He was named after John Wesley, the founder of Methodism. He grew up in the tumultuous Reconstruction era and this book suggests a life that successfully took advantage of the new opportunities and none of the travails such as those recounted in Klan War: Ulysses S. Grant and the Battle to Save Reconstruction are related here. In 1884, he enrolled in the newly opened Paine Institute (later known as Paine College), which had been established as an "interracial" venture between the Methodist Episcopal Church, South (MECS) and the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church (CME). George Williams Walker, the MECS minister and president of Paine from 1884 to 1910, became a lifelong mentor to Gilbert. In 1886, Gilbert was given financial assistance to transfer into the junior class of Brown University. The source of this assistance is obscure, but it feels to me like a community source and makes me that of that received by Nina Simone. There, he was among the first ten black students to attend the school and among the forty African-Americans to graduate from any northern university between 1885 and 1889. While at Brown, Gilbert received a scholarship to attend the American School of Classical Studies in Athens, Greece—at the encouragement of Albert Harkness, a prominent classicist and professor at Brown and a founding member of the American School's Managing Committee. This was during an exciting time when following Greece independence from the Ottoman Empire.
(Greece gained independence from the Ottoman Empire in the early 19th century after the Greek War of Independence of 1821–1829 against centuries of Ottoman rule. The conflict concluded with the Treaty of Adrianople, leading to Greek autonomy, which was solidified by the London Protocol in 1830. This established Greece as an independent kingdom, recognized by the Great Powers—Britain, France, and Russia—which had intervened to ensure a Greek victory.)
He was the first African American to attend that school, and remained the only one to have done so through 1901. He was there from 1890 to 1891 and conducted archaeological excavations on Eretria with John Pickard, producing the first map of Ancient Eretria. Their work supposedly uncovered the "tomb of Aristotle", a claim that was quickly disproven. For his work in Greece, Gilbert in 1891 became the first African-American to receive an advanced degree from Brown. He received his master's thesis on the topic of "The Demes of Attica" (now unfortunately lost).
In 1911 and 1912, Gilbert undertook a mission to the Belgian Congo with Walter Russell Lambuth, a (white) bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Gilbert and Lambuth successfully established a church and school in the village of Wembo-Nyama.
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