Sergeant John H. Corbin

By Dr. Gladys Turner Finney

Sergeant John H. Corbin was born free in Ohio about 1842. His parents, William Corbin,
born about 1798, and Susan Mordecai Carter Corbin, had been enslaved in Virginia. His mother
was born in 1804 and was emancipated at age nineteen by John Parkhill of Henrico County
Virginia. William and Susan were married, January 23, 1825 in Ross County, Ohio. Susan Corbin
died February 9, 1874 in Cincinnati, Ohio. William Corbin died January 29, 1875 in Cincinnati,
Ohio.

John H. Corbin enlisted in the military October 16, 1861, at Camp Wood, Fond du Lac,
Wisconsin. He fought as part of the 14th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, Company A.
The 14th Wisconsin was mustered into federal service of the United States, January 30, 1862.
John H. Corbin was promoted to Quartermaster Sergeant on August 31, 1862. He reenlisted on December 12, 1863, and was reappointed Quartermaster Sergeant. He was discharged on
October 9, 1865 at Mobile, Alabama.

The circumstances of how John H. Corbin came to be a member of the Wisconsin Company 14-A
are unknown. "Company F of the 29th Wisconsin Infantry was the only African-American Unit
credited to Wisconsin. It was composed of Black soldiers who agreed to take the place of white
Wisconsin residents. Most came from Illinois or Missouri. A handful also joined from other states"
according to the Wisconsin Historical Society.

John H. Corbin married Virginia C. Baker on February 8, 1871 in Cincinnati, Ohio. They
had three children.

He migrated to New Orleans and shortly after his arrival obtained employment as teacher in the public schools. He soon became principal of McDonough School, Number 5. The school was
located in the historic West-bank Algiers Neighborhood.

John H. Corbin died September 19, 1878 in New Orleans during the Yellow Fever Epidemic
along with his brother, Henry A. Corbin, who had been Private Secretary to Governor P.B.S.
Pinchback. "The high estimate in which he was held by all who knew him was attested by the large number of people who attended his funeral and evinced in their sorrowful faces how deeply they
felt the loss they had sustained." Honorable William G. Brown said of the two brothers in a
condolence to a cousin in Cincinnati: "With different dispositions, straight-forwardness and integrity
will inevitably command esteem."

After John H. Corbin death, his widow, Virginia C. Corbin, applied for a Civil War
Widow's pension which she received until her death July 4, 1903.

Sergeant Corbin was the brother of Professor Joseph Carter Corbin, founder of Branch Normal
College, now the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. He was the maternal uncle of Cyrus
F. Adams and John Quincy Adams, prominent newspaperman of the late 19th and early 20th Century.

Sources:
Roster of Wisconsin Volunteers, War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865, Volume 1, p. 772.
Civil War Widows Pension Application
The New Orleans Weekly, 30 November, 1878, p.2.


   

My Identity Story

                                                       
                                                     
Lately, I’ve been thinking about my identity after having AncestryDNA which estimated my ethnicity to be 88% African; 48% Nigerian. An earlier mtdna concluded my maternal ancestry was Sierra Leone.  I was not surprised and delighted by the results. However, I cannot trace my family to Nigeria or Sierra Leone.

When I was born in 1935 my Arkansas birth certificate identified me as “C.” for Colored.
The 1940 Census identified me and my parents as Negro.

My 1955 Arkansas driver’s license when I was nineteen identified me as “colored” as did other documents of that era including my father’s Cotton Belt Railroad pass. I am not exactly certain when my identity changed.  I did not self-select these designations and do not remember my parents telling me I was Colored or Negro. So, who told me I was Colored or Negro? Who designated me to be Colored or Negro?

A “Negro” is defined by the American Heritage Dictionary as a “member of the Negroid ethnic division of the human species, especially one of various people of central and southern Africa… characterized by brown to black pigmentation and often by tightly curled hair.”  I do have these physical characteristics.  I am African by ancestry, history, and DNA.  I am certain my ancestral family also came from the Niger Region of Nigeria.
The word Negro is a Spanish and Portuguese term for black.

I was born in the United States which makes me a national or citizen of the United States of America. My ancestors were enslaved Africans who did not gain U.S. citizenship until the 14th Amendment to the Constitution in 1868 after the Civil War.

The Europeans who colonized and settled the United States of America were not a monolithic “white race” in Europe but transformed themselves into a new national and cultural identity in the United States where being white was superior to Colored, Negro, Black, Brown, Red, or Yellow. Being white meant not “contaminated” by Negro blood.

The idea that there existed a white superior race of Europeans and a black race of Africans considered inferior and chattel property was well crafted in the origin of the founding of the United States of America. My family was not immigrants. My family did not choose freely to come to the USA to make a new life. My family came enslaved in chains as free labor. They were stripped of their name, origin and language. All of this has made it impossible for me and countless others to trace their ancestry to the shores of Africa, except now through DNA.

I am also an American because I share the North American Continent with other inhabitants. But the history of race supremacy and power has made this identity synonymous with being from the United States. The internet identifies me as “American.”

So, who told me I was Colored?
The power of white oppression told me I was colored through Colored Waiting Signs, Colored Water Fountains, and Colored Sections on buses/trains, segregated Colored schools, segregated communities, segregated churches. All of this was dictated by the laws of segregation. My designated identity had nothing to do with my ancestry but to ensure that I stayed in my designated place.

So, where does the US Census fit in?

Since 1790, the United States has taken a census every ten years. In 2020 the Census Bureau will undergo this ritual again. The original purpose was to count the population necessary for drawing congressional districts. The population schedule which genealogists and family researchers use to help trace their family history remains confidential for 72 years, unless under special family circumstances. The first Census categories included:
  Free white males under 16
  Free white males 16 years and upward
  Free white females
  Other free people
  Number of slaves

“… slavery was no mere accident of history but rather a near universal practice in the Western Hemisphere from the sixteenth century onward to the eighteenth, shaping the very legal foundation of citizenship and property rights, as well as the idea of civilization.”

For the first six censuses (1790-1840) enumerators recorded only the names of the heads of households. Beginning in 1850, all members of the household were named on the census.

“Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, defined by the federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the United States Census Bureau, are described as self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races, they most closely identify. One may indicate whether or not they are Hispanic or Latino origin (the only categories for ethnicity).”

The Census currently acknowledge that “the race or races that respondents consider themselves to represent is a social-political construct and generally reflect a social or anthropological definition and takes into account social and cultural characteristics as well as ancestry, using appropriate scientific methodologies that are not primarily biological or genetic in reference. The race categories include both racial and national-origin groups.”

A review of race and ethnicity in the United States Census is informative.

1820 Census added the term “colored” and number of foreigners not naturalized.”

1830 Census added number of White persons who were non- naturalized foreigners.

1850 Census was “first time free persons were listed individually instead of by head of household. The question on the free inhabitant schedule about color was a column left blank if a person was white, marked “B” if a person was black, and “M” if a person was mulatto. Slaves were listed by owner, and classified by gender and age, not individually, and question regarding color was to be marked with a B or M.

1870 Census was my maternal family entry in South Carolina Census and is the first Census slaves were listed by name. I cannot trace my maternal family prior to this date.

1890 Census: Enumerators were instructed to write “White, Black, Mulatto, Quadroon, Octoroon, Chinese, Japanese, or Indian.”

1900 Census: Enumerators instructed to use a special expanded questionnaire for American Indians living on reservations or family groups off reservation that included “Fraction of person’s lineage that is white.

1910 Census reinserted Mulatto and asked question about respondent “mother tongue.”

1930 Census:
  Mulatto Classification discontinued.
  Interracial persons with white and black blood were to be recorded as “Negro”
  No matter the fraction. (The one drop rule).
  Mixed Black and American Indian was to be recorded “Negro” unless he was considered to be   “predominantly” American Indian and accepted as such within the community.

Mixed White and American Indian were to be recorded as” Indian” unless his American Indian ancestry was small and he was accepted as white in the community. In all situations in which a person had White and some other racial ancestry, he was to be reported to that race.

1940 Census:
President Roosevelt sought a “good neighbor” policy with Mexico after a federal judge ruled that three Mexican immigrants were ineligible for citizenship because they were not white, as required by federal law. To circumvent the decision and make sure the federal agencies treat Hispanics as white, all federal agencies were to uniformly classify people of Mexican descent as white.

1950 Census removed the word “color” from the racial designation.

1970 Census included “Negro” or “Black.”

1990 Census “was not designed to capture multiple racial responses, and when an individual marked the Other race option and provided a multiple write in, the response was assigned and coded according to the race written first.” Black-White, White-Black.

2000 Census defined “White” as a “person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa.”  Black or African American was defined as “a person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa.”

I have had strong debates with those who abhor the designation/classification, identity “African-American.” They say they never been to Africa, have no connection to Africa and do not represent the people of Africa. Some wish to be known only as “American.” Others preferred Colored or Negro.

What term to identify ourselves as an ethnic group has been a matter of debate dating back to the Black abolitionists who identified themselves in African terms, “Sons of Africa, African Lodge, Free African Society, and African Baptist Church.” Some Philadelphia leaders urged Blacks “to abandon use of the word “Colored” and removal of African from our institutions.” Martin R. Delaney said “no people could gain respect unless they retained their identity.”

An informal survey of friends, relatives, church members regarding their self identification was informative.
One respondent who checked the “Other” box on the Census said he did so “because I don’t know who the hell I am.”  The “Other” box was also used by those who considered themselves “bi-racial.”  One native born naturalized Nigerian considered himself “Nigerian American.”  One respondent who was 55% European according to DNA
with European characteristics, a maternal and paternal great grandfather who were “white, self-identified as “African American.” She said she had been “segregated and socialized to be African American.” She cited an incident when a physician attending her in a hospital refused to accept and write in her medical chart her self identity “African American” and implied that she was mentally ill. She continued by saying her self-identity “African American” is often changed in her records to “white.”
Another respondent said she had been “Colored,” “Negro,” “Black” but now self-identify herself as “Afro-American.”

A respondent who self identified himself as “bi-racial” said he identifies himself as Black
when binary thinking of the computer does not allow him to be both Black and White and when there is a group benefit or personal benefit such as receiving more scholarship aid.  He never checks “Other race because other does not matter.”

A respondent who self identified himself as “Israelite” who can walk his ancestry from then to now” said “I do not appreciate anyone telling me who I am, I tell them.”

“When it comes to models of second-class citizenship for non-whites, the United States led the way and the Nazis eagerly followed.” The U.S. government has spent an inordinate amount of time and energy promoting racism defining who is non-white. When the federal government defines citizens’ identity on the basis of skin color it is discriminatory. My ancestral identity is part of my national and personal identity as an African United States person of America.

How Data on Race and Ethnicity Are Used
The decennial census is required by the Constitution and used to determine the number of seats each state has in the House of Representatives, as well as how federal money is distributed to local communities. Today’s Census Bureau markets itself as more than a head count operation but a purveyor of demographic data authorized by Congress that determine how congressional seats are apportioned, how federal dollars are distributed. And oversee federal civil rights compliance for certain demographic groups, programs/statures.


Sources: United States Census, Wikipedia.
Before the Mayflower: A History of Black America.
“And He Is Us: The Land of Cotton Meets the Third Reich,” Guy Lancaster, Arkansas Review, Volume 48, Issue 2, August 2017.
Self-reflection.

Bluford Family Reunion

Trotwood was the site of the Bluford Family Reunion, September 13 to 15, hosted by
Dr. Gladys Turner Finney. Organized around the theme, "Cousins United," the goal
was to unite first cousins of the children of James "Jimmy" Bluford and Chester Lee
(Johnson) Bluford of Jefferson County, Arkansas. Of the 19 original first cousins,
13 still survive, and 8 were able to attend the reunion along with children and grandchildren.

This was the first Bluford Reunion. The majority had never met. They came from
Arkansas, California, Indiana, and Illinois. The oldest cousin, Dr. Finney, presented
the Bluford Family History. The family is now centered in Chicago.

The Bluford Family traces its origin to James/ Jim Bluford, born enslaved about 1830
 in South Carolina. James/Jim Bluford and his wife, Mary Simkins Bluford had six
 children when the 1870 Census was taken in Saluda, Edgefield County, South Carolina:
Jessie (14), Harry (12), Emmer (10), Jim (8), Will (6), and George (4).

 After emancipation, James' son, George, the progenitor of this branch of the Bluford
 Family, moved to Madison Parish (Tallulah) Louisiana where his two sons, Ebbie
 and James "Jimmy" Bluford were born. George and his two sons migrated to Linclon County, Arkansas around 1908.

A picnic was held at John Wolfe Park. Reverend Doctor Darryll Young gave the invocation. Recognition was given to the following category: Traveled the farthest, Most grandchildren,
The youngest. Those born in September were saluted with a Birthday Cake. Community
activities were planned.

Remembering Mitchell W. Wood, better known as "Bootie," Jazz Trombonist, 100th Anniversary Year of His Birth

Bootie Wood, born December 27, 1919 died in Dayton, Ohio on June 10, 1987.
He is buried in Woodland Cemetery.

This is a photo of "Bootie at conclusion of 1987 Ellington concert/Toronto."
 (Handwritten on back of photo). The photographer is Paul J. Moeffler.

How nice it is to experience the serendipity of a valuable discovery when least expected.
Such was the case and my good fortune on finding this unnamed, framed photo when
its owner brought it for sale at our church's annual flea market. I was attracted to the
photo of the handsome African American man with broad happy smile holding a
trombone. My intuition led me to think it was a local musician lost in history.
Well, it turns out that the musician, Bootie Wood, was locally and internationally
renowned, and certainly not lost in history.

For information on Bootie Wood see:
allmusic.com
Biography Encyclopedia of Jazz
Dayton Daily News Obituary
"The Randolph Leader," Vanessa Sorrell Burnside
Wikipedia

A Thank You Note

What began as a revelation to assist those in need
with food and clothing, from a Budget Travelers' Magazine,
to one of the poorest counties in the U.S. (Owsley County, Kentucky)
led to a divine circle of giving and receiving of God's blessings.

It all started when long time friend, M. Kimbro, was touched with
compassion on seeing two Black children without shoes on the pages
of the Budget Traveler's Magazine. She called and said " We have to do something."
I  readily agreed we ought to do something but needed to first make contact
with a church or organization who would welcome our help. That was not an
obstacle and after a telephone call we were in touch with the
Emma Quire Mission Center, an Owsley County Food Ministry of the
Booneville First Baptist Church.

Beside me, Kimbro was only able to recruit one other person, W. Tucker,
among her wide array of friends. When I talked to my friends they looked
puzzled and behind the look they were obviously thinking "are you crazy."

Our plan was simple, to collect food, clothing, and money donations and deliver it.
I concentrated on collecting money from College Hill Community Church
members, and the Peace & Social Justice Ministry. M. Kimbro involved her
Hunters' Glenn Community and friends. No one I asked declined to contribute.

The day finally arrived, September 30, 2008, I accompanied M. Kimbro to pick
up a leased van. But before I departed, it occurred to me to look up the
Sheriff's name and telephone number in Owsley County and give to my neighbor.
The irony of three Black women going on this mission trip became apparent.
It was my first time meeting Tucker. She had considerable experience with
Red Cross Disaster Relief. After packing the van we were on our way.
It was a beautiful day, beautiful drive. M. Kimbro drove all the way.

Before entering the mountains, and losing cell phone connection, I quipped.
We better stop and call our host to mark our location where we were last seen
and heard. The ladies at the church assured us that they were awaiting our arrival.
And indeed on arrival, they had prepared a wonderful meal and were quite
congenial.

Housing had been arranged at a motel owned by the church. Our big surprise
was there were no Blacks in the County. Everyone we encountered that evening
when we went to a local restaurant for dinner, walking distance from the motel,
said they knew who were and why we we were there.

The second day, thanks to the generosity of the donors, we were blessed with
the opportunity to share the gifts we brought with the people, before our
departure, some had come down from the hills.

Special Thanks To:
Brother Jerry Lacefield, pastor, First Baptist Church, his wife Susan, the dedicated
volunteers. God is at work among the people of Owsley County.

"You are the light of the world... let your light shine.
   Mat 5:14

An Ohio Memory: Town Hall Meeting with the 39th President of the United States

Winning a lottery is an exciting event, especially if it is
a lottery to see and hear the President of the United States

In the fall of 1980, I was among the lucky winners
selected in a lottery to attend President Carter's Town Hall Meeting
on Thursday, October 2, 1980 at the Dayton Convention Center.

The night before the meeting, I was filled with a sense of
anticipation. So much so, I dreamed I missed seeing the
President altogether.

In preparation for this, perhaps once in a life time
experience, my husband graciously recommended that I carry a
small handbag to hasten the inspection that would be required to
enter the Convention Center. This advice would indeed prove
helpful.

So with ticket in hand, I went to see the 39th
President of the United States, Jimmy Carter, former Georgia
Governor and naval officer, and peanut farmer.

All ticket holders were expected to be seated between 10:00
and 11:00 A.M. as the President was expected to arrive between
11:30 and noon. Re-entry would not be permitted, for security
purposes, for anyone who left the assembly room.

Once inside and seated, the mood of the audience was also
one of excitement and high anticipation. We had come to see our
President as Americans.

The President's Advance People were busily passing out
cards for questions to be asked by the audience, and taking care
of other duties.

The Presidential Seal majestically adorned the dais, flanked
by Secret Service Agents. Eventually the time came for the
President's appearance, accompanied by "Hail to the Chief."

It is a day I shall long remember. I felt a sense of awe
and pride to be an American as I reflected on the Office of the
Presidency being the most important in the free world.

The Town Hall Meeting had symbolized the best of the
American tradition, an opportunity to see and hear the
President.

Postscript:
Jimmy Carter served as President from 1977 to 1981. This was his
first visit to the Gem City as president. It was a re-election campaign
stop. Dayton Mayor James H. McGee greeted the president at
Wright-Patterson AFB. President Carter lost the presidential election
to Ronald Reagan.

Tribute to Charles R. Kilby

I called him Kilby.
He was born during the Jim Crow Era.
It was de-facto segregation in the North and de-jure segregation in the South.

Yet, Kilby took advantage of every opportunity to graduate from the Ohio State University
and to earn a MSW at Wayne State University.

I first met Kilby when he was a social worker at Dayton State Psychiatric Hospital.  He joined the Miami Valley Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers. Few African Americans in Dayton held a MSW degree at that time. He was a parent of four small children.

I came to know him better as I encountered him at professional conferences.
Case in Point. Kilby was at the 1968 Social Work Conference in San Francisco when the Black Social workers challenged the relevance of the professional organization and its racist practice. Black social workers walked out of the Convention Center, reassembled at Glide Memorial Church where the National Association of Black Social Workers (NABSW) and the Welfare Rights Movement of America were founded. The following year, I encountered Kilby on an airplane from Dayton to New York City to the 1969 Social Work Conference. Following the 1968 Conference Kilby and I attempted to start a Dayton NABSW Chapter.

A life dedicated to NASW, Kilby served on local and state committees. He worked tirelessly for the passage of professional  licensing for social workers in Ohio. I credit him for changing the mind of local State Representative, C. J. M Lin to support the Social Work licensing bill. He was an early Adjunct Professor of Social Work at Wright State University. He was a pioneer in mental health in Miami and Montgomery County.

Kilby was the 1976 recipient of  Ohio Region VII Social Worker of the Year Award and its Life- time Achievement Award, 2005.

Kilby hired me as part of his Administrative Staff at Day-Mont West Community Mental Health Center in 1975. My greatest professional remembrance is writing with him and others a eight million dollar federal mental health grant.





Kilby's legacy is a life of service and dedication to the profession of Social Work. He leaves behind a  a lovely family, Cynthia, sons, Karlton and Kevin and daughters Melanie and Rosalind.

My friend, rest from your labors in the presence of God.






Kilby NYC 1969

Kilby receiving 2005 NASW Lifetime Achievement Award
Presenter Gladys Turner Finney