Dr. Sylvester Cohen Jr.

Obituary For Dr. Sylvester Cohen Jr.

Dr. Sylvester Cohen, Jr. was born on August 7, 1947 in Brooklyn New York to Sylvester and Evelyn Cohen. Dr. Sylvester Cohen, Jr. was an extraordinary father to Ivy and Mark Alexander, a husband of peerless devotion to DeSilver Cohen for 53 years, and the beloved history professor of over 20 thousand students at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) Tallahassee, Florida, from 1989-2022. The most preferred professor (by international students as well), Dr. Cohen met his student everywhere, as they served in various career posts, even within his own department. Sylvester Cohen was presented Teacher of the Year Award (1997-98) by former FAMU President Frederick Humphries. He began his teaching career in 1970 as history professor, University of Pittsburgh. In 1977, he earned his doctorate degree in history from Carnegie-Mellon University (Pittsburgh). In 1983, he joined the Morehouse College faculty as a professor of history (Atlanta). His scholarly writings are catalogued and cited within hundreds of world libraries, from Yale to University of Berlin. Dr. Cohen co-authored African American Experience, 2nd Edition, adopted as a textbook for classes at FAMU. In all his areas of specialization, Dr. Cohen published—including in Cambridge Press (1979): Southern Africa affairs, African history, African-American history, American history, social studies pedagogy and curriculum development in African and African American history. Dr. Cohen taught these specialist areas in courses at University of Pittsburgh, Morehouse College and Florida A& M University. He especially enriched his students’ learning as he shared vast, deep knowledge gained by reading extensively from his scholarly library: 5,000 curated volumes on African, international and American history/politics, civil rights, biography, economic globalization, and social philosophy. Before graduating from Kentucky State in 1969, Sylvester became a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity; he was also selected to participate in an honors summer program at Harvard (1967). As a Fulbright Teacher Exchange Fellow in 1984, Sylvester studied in Liberia, Senegal, and Sierra Leone. In 1992, Center for African Studies, University of Florida, sponsored Dr. Cohen’s research for a university-wide lecture on Cuba and Southern Africa. Sylvester was an evaluator in folio reviews for the Florida Department of Education. In 1968, Sylvester met his soulmate, DeSilver Campbell, at Yale University, where both were participants in an honor studies program. Milestones of their lives were on campuses. In 1969, they married in Beck Chapel, Indiana University, and lived on campus to earn master’s degrees—Sylvester’s in history, hers in English (1970). Sylvester immensely enjoyed working daily with his closet friend and colleague, DeSilver. They studied together and earned doctorates at Carnegie-Mellon, and then taught together as professors at University of Pittsburgh, Morehouse and Florida A&M University. The most glorious event was Ivy’s graduation at FAMU in 2013, where Sylvester and DeSilver dressed in regalia as faculty-parents in Ivy’s processional. Sylvester was a devoted provider for his family; he showed unqualified love for Ivy and DeSilver. As a heroic husband, he was respected for his fidelity to DeSilver. Sylvester was predeceased by his precious son Mark Alexander Cohen—whose two days of life impacted Sylvester’s heart and mind daily (1980), and by his parents, Evelyn and Sylvester Cohen. He is survived by his dearest daughter, Ivy Lynn Cohen, and his devoted wife of fifty-three years, DeSilver Cohen—as well as his brothers Raymond and Orease Cohen, and sister Donna (Cohen) Wilson, and a host of family and friends. The Celebration of Life for Dr. Sylvester Cohen will be Thursday, June 30, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. at Bethel Missionary Baptist Church, 224 Martin Luther King Boulevard, Reverend Dr. RB Holmes, Jr. presiding.

On behalf of the staff and management of Strong & Jones Funeral Home, we would like to extend our deepest sympathy to the family of Mr. Sylvester Cohen