Theodore Speigner (1906 - 1983)

Dr. Speigner was the first African American to obtain a PhD in Conservation in the United States. Speigner founded the Department of Geography at North Carolina Central University, an HBCU, in 1960. By 1988, the AAG assessed that this program was the nation’s leading producer of black geographers. Speigner came to Geography late in life, earning his PhD in his 50s, having already been a trailblazer for racial equality. He was the first African American elected to the Durham, North Carolina school board and eventually became its Chairman. Speigner was also the second African American to be ordained by the American Lutheran Church. Additionally, he was the first to serve on a policymaking group of the National Lutheran Council when he was minted to the Division of American Missions in 1953. He served as president of Martin Luther Institute in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and President of the Alabama Lutheran Conference in the late 1930s.