 Professor Joseph Roy Applegate made history by becoming the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's first black faculty member. He also established a first PhD program for African Studies in the country. Professor Applegate spoke 13 languages and could read several more. He was born December 4, 1925, in Wildwood, New Jersey. At an early age, his family moved to Philadelphia, and his exposure to the Yiddish and Italian languages of his neighbors piqued his interest in learning others.