Born August 25, 1901, in Trinidad, British West Indies, Oliver Cromwell Cox was the son of William Raphael and Virginia (Austin) Cox. Despite a crippling childhood bout with poliomyelitis, he became one of the most influential African American scholars of the twentieth century. In 1928 he received a Bachelor of Library Science degree from Northwestern University. Continuing his education, he earned his master's and doctorate from the University of Chicago in 1932 and 1938, respectively.

Cox began his teaching career in 1938 as a professor of economics at Wiley College in Marshall, Texas. In 1944 he accepted a position as a professor of sociology at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, where he remained for five years. In 1949 he began teaching sociology at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri, which would remain his academic home until his death in 1974. During his career, he was a member of the American Economic Association, American Sociological Association (fellow), and...