Dr. Ralph Proctor, famed historian, author, professor, passes

DR. RALPH PROCTOR PASSED AWAY ON FRIDAY MORNING, FEB. 2, ACCORDING TO HIS SON. In the “Something Peo­ple Might Not Know About Me” section of the CCAC website that hous­es Ralph Proctor’s bio, he said that “despite a very public life…I really am quite introverted and rather shy.” Well, that “introverted” and “rather shy” person met with Dr. Martin Lu­ther King Jr., participated in the civil rights move­ments of the ’50s and ’60s, wrote three books, host­ed radio and television programs like WQED’s “Black Horizons,” spent decades giving public speeches, created Diver­sity, Equity and Inclusion programs and traveled ex­tensively through Africa. And still, that doesn’t seem like anywhere near enough to describe Ralph Proctor, Ph.D., and his ac­complishments. Dr. Proctor died on Fri­day morning, Feb. 2, ac­cording to his son. “Brother Proctor was the consummate fearless war­rior for justice,” said Ron­ald Saunders, President of the Dr. Edna B. McKenzie Branch of ASALH (Associ­ation for the Study of Af­rican American Life and History), in a statement to the New Pittsburgh Cou­rier. “He would tackle Jim Crow and racism regard­less of where it reared its ugly head, whether it was at the University of Pittsburgh, the United States Military, WQED or any...