Earlie Endris Thorpe, 64, recently retired professor of history, North Carolina Central University, died January 30, 1989. Dr. Thorpe, author of nine books, joined the faculty at NCCU in 1962. Chair of its department of history and social science department for 10 years, he also was a visiting professor of history at Duke and Harvard Universities. Professor Thorpe was regarded as a pioneer in several fields of history, including the intellectual history of Afro-Americans.

Born in Durham, he later attended North Carolina College (now NCCU) for a year, then served three years in the army during World War II. After the war, he studied at the University of Florence, Italy, then returned to North Carolina where he received bachelor's and master's degrees. He received his doctoral degree from Ohio State University.

He was general editor of a 10-booklet series of the black experience in America, published by American Education Publications, Middleton, Connecticut. The topics of his books included a slave psycho-history of the south, slave religion and C.J. Jung; and a critique of the philosophy of history.

A member and associate minister of Mount Gilead Baptist Church, he was ordained as a minister on April 4, 1976. He also served as a member of the North Carolina Bicentennial Commission and among his associate memberships were the State Historical Advisory Commission, the Organization of American Historians; the Society for the Study of Southern Literature; the American Historical Association, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

He is survived by his wife, Marthe V. Branch Thorpe, two daughters, three brothers, and four grandsons. Memorials may be made to the E.E. Thorpe Scholarship Fund in the history department at North Carolina Central University.