Ray E. Phillips was born in 1889 and active in South Africa for four decades following World War I. He participated in the Joint Council movement and was a founder of the South African Institute of Race Relations. Long associated with the programs of the Bantu Men's Social Centre in Johannesburg, he was also the principal of the J. H. Hofmeyr School of Social Work for Africans. He wrote two major books. The Bantu Are Coming (1930), his Yale University doctoral dissertation, and The Bantu in the City (1938), works which emphasized the necessity to recognize Africans as a permanent urban community. He retired to the United States, where he died in 1967.
biographyREF B-0149521Verified
Biography record
Ray E. Phillips
- Updated
- 2 Oct 2019
How we know this
- 01• Gerhart G.M and Karis T. (ed)(1977). From Protest to challenge: A documentary History of African Politics in South Africa: 1882-1964, Vol.4 Political Profiles 1882 - 1964. Hoover Institution Pres: Stanford University.
Last updated · 2 Oct 2019
South African History Online. (2019, September 2). Ray E. Phillips. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/B-0149521
South African History Online (2019) 'Ray E. Phillips', South African History Online, 2 September. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/B-0149521 (Accessed: 25 September 2026).
South African History Online, Ray E. Phillips [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/B-0149521, (accessed 25 September 2026).
"Ray E. Phillips." South African History Online, 2 Sept. 2019, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/B-0149521. Accessed 25 Sept. 2026.
South African History Online. "Ray E. Phillips." South African History Online. September 2, 2019. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/B-0149521.
Further reading
Article
Brenda Fassie’s 1997 hit song Vulindlela still raises questions about South Africa as a nation
In 1997, South Africa’s most famous music star had a huge hit. Brenda Fassie’s Vulindlela became a national pop...
Place
KwaZulu-Natal Literary Trails (under Heritage Routes)
Kwa-Zulu Natal has a diverse literary heritage, from the legacy of prominent Indian writers and political figures in...
Article
Ambassador Lindiwe Mabuza and her connection with Scotland: An Appreciation by Brian Filling
Born in South Africa in 1938, she spent much of her life in exile from apartheid South Africa at college in Lesotho,...
Place
Langa Township, Cape Town
Development of Langa locationIn the course of the Inter War Years the regulations of the 1902 Location Act were...
Place
Gansbaai, Overberg
World-renowned as the ultimate destination for diving with Great White Sharks and “game-viewing” of the Marine Big...
SAHO is free because readers fund it. Donate →