Charles Henry Parrish papers

Charles Henry Parrish was UofL’s first African American educator. He taught for 20 years at UofL’s segregated Louisville Municipal College. When LMC was absorbed into A&S in 1951, he was the only LMC faculty member retained. Known for his work in civil rights and public service, he also chaired the Sociology Department and was instrumental in founding the Southern Police Institute. Born in Louisville, KY 12 January 1899 to Charles and Mary Parrish, he grew up in a household determined to change the history of Black Americans. Parrish's father Charles Sr. was born a slave and eventually became president of Simmons University in Louisville. With this emphasis on education, Parrish graduated from Central High School in 1916 and received his A.B. in 1920 from Howard University in Mathematics. Parrish returned to Louisville, where in 1921 (after receiving his M.A. in Sociology from Columbia University), he began teaching at Simmons University. In 1944, he received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. That same year, on 30 September, Parrish married Frances Murrel, with whom he had one daughter, Dr. Ursula Daniels. Parrish had an extensive career in education. He taught mathematics at Simmons University from 1921 until 1931, at which time he left Simmons and began teaching sociology and education at Louisville Municipal College.

In 1951, when Louisville Municipal College merged with the University of Louisville, Parrish became the first African American to join the faculty at the University of Louisville when he joined the Department of Sociology. Eight years later, he became the head of the department. Parrish retired from the University of Louisville in 1969, but he did not retire from education altogether. From 1972-1973, he acted as the Interim Chair of the Department of Sociology at Dillard University in New Orleans, LA. Parrish's life did not revolve solely around education. Instead, his life and studies revolved around the betterment of the African-American community, starting in Louisville and hopefully spreading throughout the nation. Published numerous times, Parrish became a critic of desegregation.

He belonged to various committees, including the Louisville and National Urban League, the National Council of Christians and Jews, the Kentucky Constitution Revision Assembly, and the Southern Regional Council, the Advisory Committee of the Jefferson County Juvenile, and the board of the Children's Hospital. Parrish also was chairman of the Louisville-Jefferson County Community Action Commission (1966 and 1967) and a member of the Mayor's Committee on Human Rights (1958-1961). He was awarded the Lincoln Key in 1952 for his contributions to African-American education. In 1966 he received the Ottenheimer Award for his work in race relations, poverty, and other areas of public social service. He died on 15 July 1989 and was survived by his wife, daughter, and grandchild. Due to the lack of materials on Ursula Parrish West, her biographical sketch is not included. The other sketches do not claim to be complete, but are only included as a reference for the researcher.