Albert Wheeler grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, in a neighborhood of working class families on the outskirts of town. Black and white, they were all poor. This early environment was an important influence, he says. "Just seeing people around me who didn't get very far in our society made a deep impression. Wanting to get out of that bag of poverty was something that was ground into me early."
Wheeler grew up in an extended family. His parents shared a house with his mother's parents, and other relatives were in close contact, Wheeler remembers his family as less contented with their lot than most of the black families in the neighborhood. They didn't like what they had or didn't have. They had the idea that the only way to get out of that bag of poverty was education. The oldest child, Wheeler was the active and industrious type, who loved both sports and reading. Segregated schools had one important benefit for black people: they had black teachers who were important role models for children growing up. Black children here in Ann Arbor, Wheeler commented, had no such models until the first black teacher was hired in the middle of the '50s. Wheeler's aunt was a school teacher, and he moved in with her and his other grandmother in order to go to a better junior high school. He participated with relish in virtually all sports in high school, was on the student council, and finished at age 16 at the head of his class. The neighbor was named Rev. Branch. He had been impressed by Wheeler's industry doing odd jobs and mowing lawns. Branch was also aware of Wheeler's academic success. One day near the time he was to graduate from high school, Branch asked Wheeler what his plans were. Wheeler was able to tell him with pride that he already had a good job lined up; he was going to be a dispatcher in a black cab company. Branch encouraged Wheeler to continue his education, even though they were in the thick of the Depression. Having graduated from Lincoln College in Pennsylvania, he suggested Wheeler apply there. Wheeler was not only accepted and given a partial scholarship, but was given a $100 bonus for being the school's first student from Missouri. Wheeler majored in biology at Lincoln College. As graduation drew near, he was not sure what his next step would be. Once again, Branch back in St. Louis made a timely intervention. Branch had a regular summer visitor, Dr. Lawrence Foster, who had a doctorate in political science and taught in college. They both listened when Wheeler talked about his career ambitions that he was never really hung about medical school, although he had a deep interest in the biological science. But he also felt a pull towards working with a large number of people rather than with individuals. His concerns were directed more to the community as a whole, Wheeler came to Ann Arbor to begin doctoral studies in the School of Public Health. There were between one hundred and two hundred black students at the university at the time, Wheeler remembers most of whom lived with black Ann Arbor families. Wheeler's graduate studies at Ann Arbor were pleasant on the whole, but there were experiences which left bitter memories. "Some professors seemed to go out of their way to make it clear to the whole class that Wheeler was somebody different from everyone else. One, for example, they had a laboratory assembly to observe experiment, several separate classes gathered together to observe. Before the experiment was to begin, the professor said that the room was getting crowded and pointed directly in the midst of the students to Wheeler as the one person who should leave to provide more room. That memory is still painful for him to recall. Wheeler's assignments as a graduate assistant seemed to him pointedly designed to keep him away from teaching or working with undergraduates. But still as he saw it, he was working earning enough money.
Wheeler received his doctorate in Public Health and set about looking for a job either teaching in a university or working in a public health program. Finding a job in public health was not easy at that time for a young black professional. After many inquiries proved negative, Wheeler happened to discuss his situation with Dr. Reuben Kahn, who had been on his doctoral committee at Michigan. Kahn was by that time famous as the developer of the first widely used test for syphilis. He had an extensive laboratory in University Hospital. Kahn promptly hired Wheeler as a research associate for his own lab. Wheeler was to work with Dr. Kahn for the next eight years. He performed research to find a syphilis vaccine and to improve diagnostic tests. During this time he became increasingly frustrated that he was not given a full academic appointment by the university, despite his proven competence in his field. At age 37, he was appointed assistant professor in the Department of Microbiology and Dermatology. As far as he can determine, he was the first black to receive a full time appointment on the university faculty.
Wheeler had met his wife, Emma, in the School of Public Health at Michigan, where she was obtaining her master's degree. They were married in 1938. Emma came from a very different background than Wheeler. She grew up in Columbia, South Carolina, where segregation was much more pointed than in St. Louis, and where blacks were subject to vastly greater amounts of abuse. Her background left her with even less tolerance for second school class citizenship than Wheeler had, and she was even more determined that they receive equal housing and employment opportunities. After getting his job at University Health, the Wheelers, who by then had three daughters, were in need of a home. Realtors showed them homes in traditionally black areas of town, but they found none of these adequate and started inquiries on their own. Eventually Wheeler found a colleague in his own department who was leaving town and about to put his house on the market. He agreed to sell his house on 8th Street to the Wheelers, who had to put up 40-50% of the down payment already saved up. But even with this substantial amount of cash, the Wheelers could find no financial institution in town from which they could obtain a mortgage.
In summery Albert Wheeler is considered an outstanding black personage in America, that is for his political and social achievements, which left their impact on my life or many black students in now day.