Final Resting Place of Professor Joseph Carter Corbin Discovered

The final resting place of Professor Joseph Carter Corbin, State Superintendent of public
education in Arkansas during Reconstruction and founder of the University of Arkansas
at Pine Bluff, seemed lost to history until now.

Professor Corbin died January 9, 1911 in Pine Bluff. The Pine Bluff Daily Graphics and
Pine Bluff Commercial reported he was "to be buried in Chicago," but did not identify
place of interment.

A death certificate would normally provide this information but was non-existent for
Corbin because he died before statewide registration of deaths in Arkansas.

For four years, I have been pursuing Corbin's final resting place until
I changed my focus to Corbin's wife, Mary Jane Corbin, and was successful.

Mary Jane Corbin died in Chicago March 28, 1910 and was buried at Waldheim
(German Cemetery, now Forest Home), Forest Park, Illinois. Professor Corbin grave-
site is also there, along with John W. Corbin and Will Corbin. Professor Corbin was
interred January 14, 1911.

My goal is to have a headstone and historical marker placed at the
gravesite to commemorate this extraordinaire educator.


Footnote  My thanks to the following contributors to this research: Linda McDowell,
                Tony Burroughs, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, Frank Coben, Elveria Goolsby.

Keys to a Happy Life, Part II, Keys 6-10

Key #6 is Friendship. People with friends are happier. Social relationships are important.
My friends are gifts from God. They rejoice with me during good times and help me with
love, prayer, and emotional support during bad times. A true friend cannot be bought with
money. To have a friend one must be a friend. My friends have offered pearls of wisdom
and a listening ear. They have spoken truth to me in love, melted denial and resistance,
and enabled my personal growth.

Key #7 is Marriage. Married people are happier than singles. A good marriage can have
permanent positive effect. And, people who are less happy to begin with can get a
bigger boost from marriage. According to the Bible, he who finds a mate finds a
good thing. From the creation of Adam, God declared it was not good for man to
live alone. And for such, a man shall leave his mother, a woman leave her home, and
the two become as one. In this miraculous unity, the giving of their lives and love to
each other, is manifest. I have found marriage to be a process of becoming, not of
completion or perfection.

Key # 8 is Faith. Faith is linked to happiness because faith gives meaning and purpose
to life. How can I live without faith? It was my rural, ancestral Baptist Church, in
Arkansas, that impregnated me with the concept of faith in God. This faith helped me
survive the caste system of segregation in the south. This body of believers was the
first to believe in me, along with my family, that I could achieve and succeed. They
had faith in me. The Bible teaches that faith is the substance of things hoped for, the
evidence of things not seen, And, without faith, it is impossible to please God,
through Jesus Christ who is the author and finisher of our faith. My faith has been
an anchor amidst the storms of life, bringing comfort in times of grief, encourgagement
when discouraged, and patience out of impatience. When my parents died, I relied
on God's pre-assurance that those who mourned shall be comforted. And so it was.

Key # 9 is Charity. People who give to others are happier because giving makes
you feel good and happy people are more likely to give. Kahlil Gibran, the Lebanese
poet, wrote you give but little when you give of your money; it's when you give of
yourself you truly give. Giving of myself and money produces happy feelings within
me.When I volunteer at the nursing home or perform a random act of kindness
God smiles upon the world.

Key #10 is Age. Older people are happier because they worry about less and set
goals within their limits. Worrying less and setting attainable goals is a lesson all
ages in our society can learn and benefit from. While stress is a normal part of
life, flexibility in the face of change and challenge leads to creative control.

Since I have only one brief life, it would be good to get it right, to discern
my purpose. Rick Warren in the Purpose Driven Life leaves no doubt. I am not here
to pursue happiness or ego-satisfaction in terms of the ten keys cited in the Reader's
Digest's article. But to live a life of intention in relationship to God. Without God,
writes Warren, life has no purpose and without purpose life has no meaning.
Without meaning, life has no significance or hope. We are messengers of God's
love and purpose in the world.

Another way of discerning our purpose is put forth in the Road Less Traveled by
M. Scott Peck: As new life forms of God, we are able to influence the world
through our conscious decisions and become agents of God's grace, working
on  his behalf, and creating love.

The seed for my purpose was planted, while a child, visiting the sick and dying
with my mother. The seed would germinate into a career as a medical social worker.
The life of service to others, especially working with the terminally ill, in Hospice,
has brought the most fufillment as God's agent.  It is this experience that taught me
how to be a  compassionate servant, walking each day with the person in their
stages of approaching death, their grief, physical and psychological pain, without
losing hope. But steadfast that death is just a door into eternity.

Psychologist Abraham Maslow speaks to our hierarchy of needs and tie our purpose
into meeting these needs from basic security to self-actualization. Erik Erikson
writes about developmental tasks to be mastered during each psycho-social stage
of growth. Maslow and Erikson are not in conflict in helping us understand
ourselves as individuals. But when it comes to seeking personal meaning and
purpose, the difference between them and Rick Warren is in the starting place.
The psychologists start with the ego or self and our self-worth. Rick Warren
starts with God as the meaning and purpose of our life, and the premise it is
not about us.

My personal computer banner is Participate in the Great Symphony of life. That
says a lot about my desire to participate in the expansiveness and synchronous
of life. As I write the final chapter of my life, I should like to look back, according
to Erikson with a sense of integrity versus despair of a life well-lived and well-done.
I do not want to stand in the face of death and despair for the things I have done
or not done. Aristotle said an unexamined life is not worth living.

So back to my beginning question. Is a happy life, a meaningful life, a purposeful life
the same? Not necessarily. But it can be if we live a life of loving God and others.
It is not a life for self. But about doing good, ministering to the needs of others
as was the character of Jesus on the earth.

Rick Warren's The Purpose Driven Life has given me good directions for my
spiritual journey. The directions are believing through worship, belonging through
fellowship, and becoming more like Jesus through discipleship. I am no longer in
the fog about my purpose. I have a holy call without being a prophet, preacher,
teacher, spiritual healer. I am made for God's purpose. I have the gift of faith to
share, the gift of worship to glorify God. And, I chose the ministry
of Social Work.

Sources:

Erickson, Erik H., Joan and Kivnick, Helen G., Vital Involvement in Old Age.
New York: Norton, 1986.
Holmes, Bob, Kleiner, Kurt, Douglas, Kate, Bond, Michael, 10 Keys to True
Happiness, Reader Digest, March, 2004, pp.96-101.
Maslow, Abraham H. Toward A psychology of Being.
Miezejeski, Thomas J. The Meaning of Life, Brookside Books, Toms River,
New Jersey, 2002.
Peck, M. Scott, The Road Less Traveled-A New Psychology of Love, Traditional
Values and Spiritual Growth. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1978.
Warren, Rick, The Purpose Driven Life, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Zondervan, 2002.

Keys to a Happy Life, Part I, Keys 1 to 5

The March 2004 Reader's Digest cover story caught my eye: New Research---10 Simple Keys
to a Happy Life. The subtitle promised happiness within the reach of us all.

Ask almost anyone and they will tell you they desire happiness. But what makes for a happy life?
At the time of the Reader's Digest article, I had just finished reading Thomas Miezejesk's book,
The Meaning of Life. Also, in March, I joined a study group at my church on Rick Warren's
highly acclaimed book, A Purpose Driven Life. A lot of questions came to mind. Is a happy life,
a meaningful life, a purposeful life all the same? Herein lies my personal journey to look at these.

Since the dawn of civilization human beings have perhaps asked the question, Why am I here
on earth? Philosophers, theologians, and sages of every age have pondered the meaning and
purpose of life. But when the question is personally applied, I am in a fog.

Knowing and fulfilling one's God given purpose must be awesome and life enhancing. I
believe Mother Teresa and Dr, Martin Luther King, Jr. were among those who discovered
and fulfilled their life purpose.

At the outset Miezejeski challenged me to think of life as a journey requiring good
directions and the importance of pondering life's meaning for an appreciation of the
gift of life. I was optimistic that spiritual growth, insight, and revelations were always
possible. Surely self-study, self-examination, reflections would help me see more
clearly my spiritual gifts and purpose.

The Reader's Digest article cites ten keys the experts found account for happiness. The
article framed the background for comparisons of a happy life, a meaningful life,
a purposeful life, and a look at my own personal life and beliefs.

Key #1 is Wealth. People with money are happier. But once basic needs are satisfied
money no longer boots happiness but status become more important. Money buys
status and status makes people feel better. I have applied the principles of wealth
building on a social worker's salary. I was taught by my parents to always live within
my means, avoid conspicuous consumption or "keeing up with the Joneses."
Money has a place in our lives but not to be our master. The Bible tells us
where your treasure is your heart will also be. It is God that giveth thee power
to get wealth. Money has enabled me to endow my charitable interest, a social work
scholarship and peace fund through the Dayton Foundation.

Key # 2 is Desire. Desire is linked to happiness because people aspire for the good life
and material possessions make them feel good. The question is how much do you have
to have to feel good? Less than we think. We are buffeted by advertisements, our own
insecurities, and other external factors toward consumption out of a desire for
the good life. I have heard people say what money can't buy I don't want.
That is immature thinking. I might have thought like that as a teenager. When I was
older and realized that I had more than I needed, it was easier to share my resources
with others. Do not sacrifice meaning for money. Learn before it is too late that our
relationship with God and our family is more important. Simple acts of kindness
count. Love is the greatest gift and time waits for no one.

Key # 3 is Intelligence. Brighter people tend to earn more. I think of intelligence as the
sum total of a sound mind, not limited to the intellectually normal or gifted but the
property of anyone who discerns beauty, truth, and right actions. All of us or endowed
by the Creator. It is what we do with our endowment that matters.

Key # 4 is Genetics. Our feeling of well being and happiness is largely determined by
our genes. Our DNA makes us divine originals, unique and matchless. We are fearfully
and wonderfully made in the image of God, No one else is like you or me. Our happiness
set point, I believe, functions more effectively when we walk humbly and delight and
meditate on the laws of God.

Key # 5 is Beauty. Good-looking people are happier because life is kinder to the beautiful.
John Keats wrote a thing of beauty is a joy forever.... He also penned this familiar quote
Beauty is truth, truth beauty, that is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know. We also
recognize that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Beauty in people can be appealing,
prideful and vain. But favor based on beauty can be deceitful. Trust not that which
is skin deep and superficial. True beauty resides within reflecting that which is honorable
and true.

Continued Keys to a Happy Life, Part II
Keys 6 to 10

Everyone Should Have a Profession, a talent, and a Hobby

           "Everyone should have a profession, a talent, and a hobby."
                                            Frederick M. Finney

A profession is an occupation or vocation which requires educational training in the
sciences, liberal arts or a specialized field. When I met my husband I had only one of
these attributes, a profession. I had a Master of Social Work degree. I did not have an
identifiable hobby or talent.

My search for a hobby led me to explore collectables, elephant figurines, bells
and women handkerchiefs. After collecting a few elephants and bells, my
interest subsidized. This was in the early 70s. Elephants were collected in the
tradition of my sorority. Bells were plentiful and non-expensive.

Women's practice of using handkerchiefs was being abandoned for Kleenex tissues.
Handkerchiefs were pretty, came in a variety of designs, fabrics, colors and were
easily available and inexpensive at Thrift Stores.

I collected about sixty-five handkerchiefs but my interest waned. I placed them in a
dresser drawer where they remained. Then in 1973, I purchased my first U.S.
African-American commemorative stamp. It was an eight cent Henry O. Tanner stamp.
The artistic design combined with history captivated my interest. I had an interest in
history dating back to junior high and high school. Collecting African-American
postage stamps (philately) became an ideal hobby for me.

A hobby is generally regarded as an activity of interest, beyond one's job, primarily
for pleasure. Do you know anyone who has a hobby? Do you know anyone who
collects for fun? Has anyone ever encouraged you to have a collection? No one had
actively encouraged me to have a hobby, although my mother saved silver dollars.

A talent is a natural or acquired ability to do something well. There are a lot of people
in the world with extraordinary talent both natural and acquired.

My talent was acquired over many years. It was awakened in me through a college
course in English Composition which sparked my creativity for expression through
writing. While at college, I won an Essay Writing Contest. This gave me confidence.
But, I did not pursue writing until my husband's challenge that everyone should have
a profession, a talent, and a hobby." He certainly had all three.

Practice, encouragement, and support helped bring my talent for writing to
fruition, A profession, talent, and hobby can well-equip and enrich one's life.

Before My Face

"For David speaketh concerning him. I foresaw the Lord always before my face... Acts 2:25.

More times than not, I have failed to see the face of God through other people, events and
circumstances as I travelled the busy road of life. Yet, there are times I have caught a
glimpse of the face of God before me. But when I looked back in search of these times,
I found three I had taken time to write about, all in 1994.

Sunday, March 7, 1994, on hearing the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff Choir in
Cincinnati, I wrote in my diary, "I saw God today in the melodious voices of the
vesper choir. O, how my heart burst forth with joy."

Good Friday, April 1, 1994, on attending Good Friday Services at Sacred Heart Church,
I wrote, "I saw God today in the veneration of the cross and the symbolic act of the
priest kissing the Blessed Christ Jesus who died for my sins."

Easter Sunday, 1994, I penned these words: "Today, I saw God-
In the unexpected snow flurries as I journeyed to Easter Sunday Service.
In the power of the choir and trumpets proclaiming Christ's resurrection.
In the innocent faces of the children who participated eagerly in the children's sermon.
In the eighteen easter lillies that decorated the sanctuary.
In the pulsating energy in the hand of Ruth Pressley as we held hands during the
Prayer for the Community.  In the beauty of the lyrics,
God give me a clean heart that I may follow thee.

Sometimes, we do not see the face of God because of lack of spiritual consciousness
or insight, inattentiveness to spiritual matters, preoccupation and distraction with
matters of the ego. I have been guilty of all of these.

In 1998, I went on a mission trip to Mexico with Borderlinks through the Synod of
the Covenant, Presbyterian Church, USA. A memory that remains with me is spending
the night on a cold concrete floor in a colonia with a family of seven who gladly shared their
little earthly possessions.  I was blessed. Love was all around me. The presence of God was before
my face.

Reflections on Receiving the Ohio NASW Region VII, Lifetime Achievement Award, March 26, 1997

Friends and Colleagues, Good Evening

I'd like to thank the Awards Committee for selecting me for this honor, the Lifetime
Achievement Award.

I'd like to thank all of you who came out tonight (Magnolia Room, Miami Valley Hospital)
to share in this event.

I'd like to pause, remember and give thanks to those who were mentors along my
professional journey who enabled my professional growth and career.

Special remembrances to the professors at AU (Atlanta University) and the then Dean
of Social Work, Whitney M. Young, who exhorted the students to stand on the side of
the poor and the oppressed. And who gave me early lessons in advocacy that I
successfully advocated against the professors' wisdom and decision to place me at
Duke University Hospital for my Block Field Placement, but at Cook County Hospital
in Chicago. It was called Advocating for the Right to Self-Determination.

Remember, when I entered graduate school in 1957, there was no Title 18 or Title 19
to the Social Security Act, which we know as Medicare and Medicaid. The South was
still a racial caste system.

But, long before I arrived on the scene of that hallowed seat of learning (AU), whose
motto was "I'll find a way or make one," I had learned by example, from a special
person the importance of standing up for your beliefs, and the consequences. That
person was my father, Willis J. Turner, who had a fourth grade education. And, who
lost his job with the with the Department of the Army at the Pine Bluff ( Arkansas)
Arsenal, during WWII, when he refused to be reassigned to the production of
yellow gas. And, was threatened with military conscription. March 31st will be the
eighth anniversary of his death. So special remembrances, Dad.

Special remembrances to the Director, Josephine Taylor, and her Assistant Director
of Social Work at Cook County Hospital who taught by example-who advocated
for compassionate care of homeless men, described as "skidrowites," long before
we had homeless programs.

Special remembrances to Dr. Marie Oswald, the Chief of Social Work at the Dayton
V.A. Medical Center, who gave me my first professional job, and was a mentor, and
rightfully referred to as the Dean of Social Work in Dayton.

Thanks to all those along the way who gave me organizational jobs, yes tasks within
NASW,  even, though I said many times, "Why me?" But, the tasks taught me the
importance of giving service to the professional organization.

Thanks to all of you who provided needed support and helped me along the way in
this wonderful profession of Social Work, which I would choose all over again.

I would like to address briefly a few challenges for the profession:

Credentializing vs Professionalizing
For new social workers in the profession, we need to be mindful of the importance
of professionalizing in the values of the profession, as well as credentializing. Social
Work is not a job! It is a commitment to compassionate service.

Hate Crimes
Hate crimes are increasing in our country. Thus, our national NASW theme, for this
year, focuses on Racial and Ethnic Harmony. Acts of youth violence and violence
towards women are major problems. Our challenge, as a profession, is to work
creatively to change violent acts into peaceful interaction and relationships.

Welfare Reform
For the first time since the New Deal, the Roosevelt Administration of the 1930s,
our country does not have an income policy which supports the economic well
being of poor children and families. Aid to Families with Dependent Children
(AFDC) has been abolished with the passage of the Personal Responsibility and
Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996.

Child poverty is a major problem.
Children are the poorest age group in the country.

Feminization of poverty is real.
A child's chance of being born into poverty is related to the make-up/demographics
of the family. If you are an African-American child in a family headed by a
female, there is a higher risk of being in poverty. If you are an African-American
female, you are four times more likely to have a low wage job. Poor women, poor
women of color, will be pushed off the Welfare rolls into low paying jobs. Rarely,
do these low paying jobs provide health care benefits. Already, there are forty million
Americans without health care benefits. And, these women will be facing little or
no assurance of child care benefits and a hostile economic environment where down-
sizing and plant closings is the order of the day.

Our challenge, as Social Workers, is to rekindle the debate about access and opportunity
to a liveable wage job, health and child care for those who will fall through the non-
existent safety net. Lasly, no matter what the temptations, seductions, we are not to
abandon the vulnerable and the poor in our society.

Willis J. Turner U S Army Arsenal Badge Number 59512

In 1942, my father walked off his maternal grandmother's farm,

near Grady, Arkansas where he was a tenant farmer subsequent

to a "dispute" with her following the spring planting. He

temporarily left behind my mother and I, saying he was "going

to town to find work" and would "be back" for us.

He journeyed to Pine Bluff in the adjacent county, the county

seat of Jefferson County, a distance of about  twenty-

four miles, paritally by foot and hitch- hiking. There, he took

up residence with his Uncle Jonas on Mulberry Street, his

maternal grandmother's oldest son, and soon found employment

at the Pine Bluff US Army Arsenal as a laborer "laying rail-

road tires."

My mother and I soon joined him and my mother later became

employed at the Arsenal, commonly referred to as "The

Bombing Plant," during the war years as women were needed

in the work force on the bomb assembly production lines due

to the shortage of men during World War II.

One day in 1942, my father, a big strapping man, over
six feet, was approached by his foreman with the

command to follow him. The foreman took him him to

an area he immediately identified as the "Yellow Gas" Area.

He told my father to go in there to work. My father's reply

was, " No Sir, I ain't going in there to work." My father was then

taken to the foreman's office and commanded to sit

outside and think about it. About two hours later, the foreman

approached him again but my father would not change his

mind. Consequently, my father was ordered off the base

an escorted by the "MP," Military Police. In their haste, they

neglected to retrieve his picture identification badge.

Footnotes:  US Army Badge Number 59512 was donated to

the  National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center

at Wilberforce, Ohio.

"Yellow gas," was a common term for a chemical warfare agent,

dichlorodiethyl sulfide, which was produced at the Pine Bluff

Arsenal. The Pine Bluff Arsenal was a toxicological center of

the United States Army.

The dispute between my father and his grandmother was over

her lack of recommendation to Mr. Gocio, local merchant,

to supply him credit.

him credit.