Gladys T. Turner Thoughts About Self

After my mother's death in 2002, I brought home a supply of notebooks I had used at AM&N College, Moton High School, Atlanta University, Fulton County Public Welfare Department, and Cook County Hospital Social Services.


" My intellectual interest arises from my desire to understand the basic problems of group life, a consciousness of how people meet their basic needs by controlling or altering their environment and a desire to render service to those unable to make transitions or meet their basic needs in a changing social order. In addition to giving service I want to participate with others in determining causes of social problems:
(1) to think deeply and help in community planning and projects in order to help alleviate conditions of physical, mental, emotional, economic, and social maladjustment.

(2) To help others understand social realities through planned realistic experiences. The presentation of knowledge, the developing of useful skills and attitudes that are consistent and harmoniously related brings a very important reward, the satisfaction of doing a job that is meaningful and important in helping tomorrow's good citizens in every walk of life. Walking with people from day to day makes each hour a challenging experience."   Gladys T. Turner----  Moton High School Note book, 1956

"To me he's a fabulous character.
  (and I love him so)
  He walks by my side and I dance on air.
  I find he's a kind of a special guy
  I kiss him and I know why.
  (my life is a song)
   He's so marvelous
   no one can compare
   Till now my life was a merry-go-round
   I never knew a carefree day."   Gladys T. Turner--- Moton High School Note book, 1956 re James
   Whitley, College boyfriend.

My Corbin Research Journey: The Background Story

What inspired me to research and write about Joseph Carter Corbin?

Joseph Carter Corbin is an Ohioan. He was born in Chillicothe, Ohio and educated at Ohio University. Little is known about him in Ohio.

I first decided to research and write an article for the African American Genealogy Group of the Miami Valley ( AAGGMV) about Corbin's accomplishments and contributions to American education.

I completed the article, Joseph Carter Corbin, Educator Extraordinaire- Founder of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff  in 2009. The article was published in AAGGMV #30, April 2, 2009, (Spring), Volume 8, Issue 2.

At the time the article was published I had two unanswered research questions: Where was Corbin buried?  Were there any Corbin descendants?

The question regarding Corbin's burial location eventually led to the location site and culminated with my dedication of headstones for Corbin, his wife and two sons on Memorial Day, May 27, 2013 at Forest Home Cemetery, Forest Park, Illinois.

The unexpected happened which would change my course as I never intended to pen a book.

During the fundraising for the Corbin headstones I received a contact through a Pine Bluff Commercial journalist who had written a story on the headstone dedication at Forest Park, Illinois.
The contact-donor was a gentleman in Los Angeles whom I did not know. He was married to a UAPB graduate. He was not a graduate of UAPB. He had been fascinated with the life of Professor Corbin. He intended to write a book. He now thought that unlikely and said he would send his research to me.

July 2, 2013: 2:00 P.M - Fedex delivers a large box of research papers on Joseph Carter Corbin from Lt. Colonel Solomon J. Jameson, U. S. Army Retired.  I was so taken by surprise I retreated to my bed, pondering the meaning of this. It soon becomes clear that I am to write the book.

Corbin's image and legacy continued to consume my consciousness. This extraordinary educator had not been fully elevated in history.

July 13, 2013: Friends drive me to Ohio University to meet with Ohio University President Roderick McDavis to solicit support in promoting Corbin's image and legacy in Ohio. As a result of this meeting an Ohio Historical Marker application was eventually submitted to the Ohio historical Society and approved in 2016.

2014, 2015, 2016: Time of researching, writing, designing Corbin's book. My research led me to libraries and archives in Arkansas, Illinois, and Ohio.

July 9, 2015: I established the Joseph Carter Corbin Memorial Scholarship at Ohio University to provide scholarships to full-time undergraduate students who are enrolled in the College of Arts & Sciences and who have demonstrated academic merit.

June 28, 2017:    
11:00 A.M.
Dedication Joseph Carter Corbin Ohio Historical Marker
Ohio University, Chillicothe Campus

Author Gladys Turner Finney

Gladys Turner Finney is a long-time resident of the Dayton area spanning more than five decades.

She was born in a rural farming community of southeast Arkansas during the middle of the Great Depression. FDR was president. She graduated from J C Corbin High School in Pine Bluff (1953), AM&N College (1957), and Atlanta University (MSW) in 1959.

She is a social worker by profession having held positions in medical and mental health facilities. She has a passion for family and historical research.

Among her works are Autobiography of Tammy (1978) and Papa Babe's Stamp Collection, 1983. Papa Babe's Stamp Collection is a fictionalized account of a young boy who discovers his grandfather's African-American postage stamp collection on a snowy day home from school.

In 2016, Turner Finney edited and published Call to the Land of Promise by Frederick M. Finney, her late husband. This is an insightful local history account of African-Americans migration to Dayton, Ohio, the challenges of de-facto segregation, the evolution of the Dayton Model Cities Program.

Gladys Turner Finney's new book, Joseph Carter Corbin: Educator Extrarordinaire and Founder of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff  (April 3, 2017) is a biography of the founder of Turner-Finney's land grant and historically black university.

Born in Chillicothe, Ohio in 1833, Professor Corbin, the son of former Virginia slaves, was one of Ohio University 's  most distinguished graduates of the mid 19th century. Corbin was the second African American to earn a bachelor's degree from Ohio University in 1850 and later two master's degrees 1856 and 1889.

During Reconstruction of the American South following the Civil War Corbin migrated to Little Rock, Arkansas. There he was elected the first African American State Superintendent of Public Education and founded the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.

Joseph Carter Corbin: Educator Extraordinaire and Founder of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff is a Butler Studies Book, $19.95, is available at uapress.com and amazon.com