Educator, Religious Figure, Author. Reverend Talbert, who was born enslaved, became an educated man supporting the educational efforts of Wilberforce University, a private historically black university. He ultimately earned his freedom and managed to obtain an education at various schools, eventually attending Berea College Wilberforce University, and Boston University. He was an itinerant preacher with the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and he was involved with church schools and publications. He is credited as the founder of the Philadelphia African Methodist Episcopal Church. He eventually returned to Wilberforce University, where he successfully served as a professor and administrator. As the secretary of Wilberforce University, he helped recruit an outstanding faculty and build excellent campus facilities. He persuaded American philanthropist Andrew Carnegie to build the university's library. He convinced President Theodore Roosevelt to assign then Lieutenant Benjamin O. Davis, Sr. to the faculty as a professor of military studies. Davis would later become the first African American promoted to the rank of brigadier general in the United States Army. Perhaps his most accomplished literary work is "The Sons of Allen: Together with a Sketch of the Rise and Progress of Wilberforce University, Wilberforce, Ohio," published in 1906, which a treatise on the history of the African Methodist Episcopal Church and Wilberforce University. The book details the AME church history with profiles of 122 men-faithful devotees, or spiritual "sons" of Bishop Richard Allen, founder in 1816 of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. His image appeared on United States post stamp in celebrating Black Heritage.
Educator, Religious Figure, Author. Reverend Talbert, who was born enslaved, became an educated man supporting the educational efforts of Wilberforce University, a private historically black university. He ultimately earned his freedom and managed to obtain an education at various schools, eventually attending Berea College Wilberforce University, and Boston University. He was an itinerant preacher with the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and he was involved with church schools and publications. He is credited as the founder of the Philadelphia African Methodist Episcopal Church. He eventually returned to Wilberforce University, where he successfully served as a professor and administrator. As the secretary of Wilberforce University, he helped recruit an outstanding faculty and build excellent campus facilities. He persuaded American philanthropist Andrew Carnegie to build the university's library. He convinced President Theodore Roosevelt to assign then Lieutenant Benjamin O. Davis, Sr. to the faculty as a professor of military studies. Davis would later become the first African American promoted to the rank of brigadier general in the United States Army. Perhaps his most accomplished literary work is "The Sons of Allen: Together with a Sketch of the Rise and Progress of Wilberforce University, Wilberforce, Ohio," published in 1906, which a treatise on the history of the African Methodist Episcopal Church and Wilberforce University. The book details the AME church history with profiles of 122 men-faithful devotees, or spiritual "sons" of Bishop Richard Allen, founder in 1816 of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. His image appeared on United States post stamp in celebrating Black Heritage.
Bio by: Warrick L. Barrett
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