Thomas Cripps

Thomas R. Cripps (September 17, 1932 – September 17, 2018) was an emeritus professor at Morgan State University in Baltimore who wrote and lectured about the history of African American cinema. Early life and education Cripps was born on September 17, 1932, in Baltimore, Maryland to Benjamin and Marian Cripps. He attended the Baltimore Polytechnic Institute and was part of the school's JV and Varsity soccer and baseball teams. Cripps pitched for the baseball team and joined them for the 1951 state championship, after his graduation in 1950. His skill brought him to the attention of a scout for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Cripps went on to attend Towson University, where he graduated in 1954 with a bachelor's degree in secondary education, followed by a Master's and PhD at the University of Maryland, College Park in the cultural history of the United States. For his dissertation Cripps wrote "The Lily White Republicans: The Party, the Negro, and the South in the age of Booker T. Washington". Career