About the Article

In recognition of African-American Heritage Month, Tech Talk (5 February 1997) presented a profile of MIT's first black faculty member, Professor Joseph R. Applegate, a linguistics expert who came to the Institute in 1955 and worked on machine translation.

This article draws on materials compiled for Clarence G. Williams for the MIT Black History Project, including archival documents, published sources, and an oral history interview conducted with Professor Applegate at Howard University in February 1996. Williams served as special assistant to the president, ombudsperson, and adjunct professor of urban studies and planning at MIT. 

Clarence G. Williams, Special Assistant to the President. “Professor Joseph Applegate: MIT's first black faculty member.” MIT News, 5 Feb. 1997.