Author. He is recognized as a 20th-century American religious figure, scholar, historian, educator, and author. He is credited with publishing at least 15 on African-American history. Wesley was a graduate of Fisk University, a historically Black liberal arts college in Nashville, in 1911 and earned a master's degree from Yale University. In 1925, he became the third African American to receive a doctorate degree from Harvard University. From 1914 to 1937, he served as an African Methodist Episcopal Church minister and elder. In 1918, Wesley became pastor at Ebenezer A.M.E Church in Washington, DC. In 1916 he began a long association with Carter G. Woodson's Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, serving as president from 1950 to 1965, and as executive director until 1972. In 1923, he was elected President, Graduate Chapter, Mu Lambda and organized a non-profit, the Beta-Mu Lambda Corporation. During the course of his other achievements, Wesley served on the Howard University faculty from 1913 to 1942. In 1928, he received an honorary Doctorate of Divinity from Wilberforce University. In 1930, having been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, Wesley traveled to England to study emancipation in the British Empire. A member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, he founded a chapter in London in 1930 and subsequently wrote "The History of Alpha Phi Alpha" in 1953. He also wrote many other articles and books on African American history, leaders and organizations, including "Negro Labor in the United States, 1850-1925" in 1927, "Collapse of the Confederacy" in 1937 and his last book, "The History of the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs: A Legacy of Service" in 1984. From 1942 to 1947, he became president of Wilberforce University in Ohio, during which time he improved the faculty, founded new programs such as African Studies, and integrated the student body. In 1947, he became president of the College of Education and Industrial Arts of Central State College in Wilberforce, serving until 1965. Among his accolades, he earned a Phi Beta Kappa Key in 1953 and the Scottish Rite Gold Medal in 1957. In 1965 Wesley became Executive Director of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, and was also responsible for all research and publications. He served until 1972 and then became Executive Director Emeritus. For these additional accomplishments, he earned the coveted Amistad Award in 1972. In his last major career endeavor, from 1974 to 1976, Wesley served as the director of Philadelphia's Afro-American Historical and Cultural Museum.