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WORK TITLE: Joseph Carter Corbin: Educator Extraordinaire and Founder of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff
WORK NOTES: source is author query
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE:
CITY: Dayton
STATE: OH
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:
https://www.daytonfoundation.org/turner-finney.html * https://www.linkedin.com/in/gladys-turner-finney-187923119/ * http://gtturnerfinney.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-gladys-turner-finney-social-work.html * http://gtturnerfinney.blogspot.com/2017/04/joseph-carter-corbin-educator.html
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born in Tamo, AR; daughter of Willis and Mary Turner.
EDUCATION:Degree from J.C. Corbin High School in Pine Bluff, AR; Atlanta University School of Social Work, M.A.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer and social worker. Formerly worked as director of social work for the Children’s Medical Center in Dayton, OH. Established a scholarship fund at the Dayton Foundation, 1998, and the Willis and Mary Bluford Turner Memorial Fund, 2002.
AWARDS:University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, Honorary Doctorate of Laws degree, 2012.
WRITINGS
Article contributor to African-American Genealogy Group of the Miami Valley.
SIDELIGHTS
Gladys Turner Finney is a writer and retired social worker. Born in Arkansas, Finney was raised in a Baptist household, though her parents enrolled her in a Catholic school to give her a religious education. Growing up a black woman in the Southern U.S. during the Jim Crow era, Finney was drawn to social work as a way to help advocate for those who would not otherwise have a voice.
While neither of Finney’s parents had an educational background past the seventh grade, she went on to graduate school for social work. Following graduation, she got her first job in Dayton, Ohio. She has lived in Dayton ever since.
Finney has worked as a social worker her entire professional career, included serving as director of social work for the former Children’s Medical Center in Dayton. In 1998 Finney helped to establish a scholarship fund through the Dayton Foundation to assist Wright State University social work students. In 2002, in memory of her parents, she established the Willis and Mary Bluford Turner Memorial Fund, which aims to support love, peace, and justice in the world.
Joseph Carter Corbin: Educator Extraordinaire and Founder of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff is Finney’s first book. In the book Finney tells the story of Corbin, the first African American Superintendent of Public Education in Arkansas and the founder of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. Corban had a classical education and built the school in the hopes of creating a college that would produce African American teachers. There was a need for teachers in Arkansas, and a desire by former slaves, who had been prevented from learning to read or write, to gain an education.
Corban was raised in Chillicothe, Ohio; his parents were former slaves. He was the second African-American to graduate from Ohio University in Athens. Following graduation in 1850, he went on to earn two masters’ degrees from Ohio University. His family then moved to Cincinnati, where he became a member of the Colored School Board. During the Reconstruction era he moved to Arkansas, ran for superintendent of public education, and won. From there he began to build the foundation for the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.
Corbin worked for more than three decades to bring his dream of creating a school for African Americans to reality. In the beginning years of the school Corbin worked as both president and janitor to keep costs down for students. He often waived fees in order to allow impoverished students to come to the university. A contributor to UAPB News described the book’s story as “monumental for the scope of what one man was able to accomplish.”
BIOCRIT
ONLINE
Dayton Daily News, http://www.mydaytondailynews.com/ (May 26, 2017), Virginia Burroughs, “Trotwood Author Champions a Black Education Pioneer.”
Dayton Foundation Web site, https://www.daytonfoundation.org (August 3, 2017), “Gladys Finney: A Lifelong Commitment to Advocacy.”
UAPB News, https://uapbnews.wordpress.com/ (April 25, 2017), “Alumna Pens Book on UAPB Founder.”*
GLADYS TURNER FINNEY:
A Lifelong Commitment to Advocacy
Leona and Jane DunwoodieBorn in Arkansas, Gladys Turner Finney’s parents raised her as a Baptist, but enrolled her in Catholic school to give her a religious education. “The nuns always made us feel we were worthy children of God, which my parents also told me,” she said. “But in the context then of the South’s caste system, hearing this from people of another race had a great impact on my early aspirations.”
Her father had just a fourth-grade education, and her mother, a seventh, but they made sure Gladys had the best possible education. Eventually she made her way to Dayton for her first job after graduate school in social work. “I thought I was just passing through, but I fell in love with Dayton and stayed.“
When she recalls her life, it’s evident that everything revolves around her lifelong advocacy of people, especially those in need and those to whom an injustice has been done.
“Coming out of the Jim Crow South,” she said, “I came to believe that people I knew needed an advocate to speak up for them, which is how I chose social work. It focuses on the dignity and worth of all people and advocates on their behalf to help them change their conditions and their lives.”
“You can start small, and as your blessings and means increase, you can grow your giving,” said Gladys Turner Finney, a Dayton Foundation donor and 2011-2012 “I Believe!” Partner.
A retired social worker, her long career included serving as director of Social Work for then-Children’s Medical Center. Her belief in the power of education and social work brought her in 1998 to establish at The Dayton Foundation a scholarship fund that already has assisted 11 promising Wright State University social work students. “I hope to inspire them to go on for master’s degrees and to help prepare the next generation of social workers to be advocates for people.“
“I always wanted to leave a legacy of faith out of gratitude for the blessings I’ve received from God, my parents and others,” she said. In 2002 she established the Willis and Mary Bluford Turner Memorial Fund to honor the values her parents taught her around peace and justice.
“They gave me the great gifts of love and education,” she said. “I can’t repay that debt, but I can encourage others to support love, peace and justice in the world.”
“The Dayton Foundation and its African-American Community Fund are showing the community the inclusiveness of philanthropy, that it is not just for rich people, but for all of us at every level,” she said. “They’re teaching us that we all can give and collectively make a difference. Giving is symbolic of love. You can start small, and as your blessings and means increase, you can grow your giving. Start where you are. For so many people, all they need is a little help, a little encouragement. With that help, they can go on to do remarkable things.“
Learn how you can open a Charitable Checking Account℠ and fund your own community beautification project.
GLADYS TURNER FINNEY: A Lifelong Commitment to Advocacy Leona and Jane DunwoodieBorn in Arkansas, Gladys Turner Finney’s parents raised her as a Baptist, but enrolled her in Catholic school to give her a religious education. “The nuns always made us feel we were worthy children of God, which my parents also told me,” she said. “But in the context then of the South’s caste system, hearing this from people of another race had a great impact on my early aspirations.” Her father had just a fourth-grade education, and her mother, a seventh, but they made sure Gladys had the best possible education. Eventually she made her way to Dayton for her first job after graduate school in social work. “I thought I was just passing through, but I fell in love with Dayton and stayed.“ When she recalls her life, it’s evident that everything revolves around her lifelong advocacy of people, especially those in need and those to whom an injustice has been done. “Coming out of the Jim Crow South,” she said, “I came to believe that people I knew needed an advocate to speak up for them, which is how I chose social work. It focuses on the dignity and worth of all people and advocates on their behalf to help them change their conditions and their lives.” “You can start small, and as your blessings and means increase, you can grow your giving,” said Gladys Turner Finney, a Dayton Foundation donor and 2011-2012 “I Believe!” Partner. A retired social worker, her long career included serving as director of Social Work for then-Children’s Medical Center. Her belief in the power of education and social work brought her in 1998 to establish at The Dayton Foundation a scholarship fund that already has assisted 11 promising Wright State University social work students. “I hope to inspire them to go on for master’s degrees and to help prepare the next generation of social workers to be advocates for people.“ “I always wanted to leave a legacy of faith out of gratitude for the blessings I’ve received from God, my parents and others,” she said. In 2002 she established the Willis and Mary Bluford Turner Memorial Fund to honor the values her parents taught her around peace and justice. “They gave me the great gifts of love and education,” she said. “I can’t repay that debt, but I can encourage others to support love, peace and justice in the world.” “The Dayton Foundation and its African-American Community Fund are showing the community the inclusiveness of philanthropy, that it is not just for rich people, but for all of us at every level,” she said. “They’re teaching us that we all can give and collectively make a difference. Giving is symbolic of love. You can start small, and as your blessings and means increase, you can grow your giving. Start where you are. For so many people, all they need is a little help, a little encouragement. With that help, they can go on to do remarkable things.“ Learn how you can open a Charitable Checking Account℠ and fund your own community beautification project.
Alumna pens book on UAPB founder
University of AR at Pine Bluff / April 25, 2017
Founder of UAPB Built School from the Ground Up
Corbin book coverHaving operated now for more than 140 years, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB) was founded in 1873 as Branch Normal College by Joseph Carter Corbin, a native of Ohio and the son of former slaves.
Corbin, who had a classical education, was the first African American Superintendent of Public Education in Arkansas and literally built the school from the ground up, according to a new book—Joseph Carter Corbin: Educator Extraordinaire and Founder of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff by Gladys Turner Finney—just published by Butler Center Books.
There was a desperate need for teachers in Arkansas, Finney writes, and a great desire for education by former slaves who had been prohibited from learning to read and write.
Corbin himself cleared the land that would soon house the college and then set about to create a school that would produce the first African American teachers following the Reconstruction years. For almost three decades, he worked tirelessly on behalf of Arkansas’s black community to meet the need for educators.
In the early days, Corbin worked both as the president and the janitor so that he could control costs and keep the school going. He often waived “matriculation fees” and other expenses to allow impoverished students the opportunity to graduate and become qualified to teach throughout Arkansas.
Although he might not have realized it at the time, Corbin was a member of the so-called “aristocrats of color,” the African American elite of national prominence and a group that included such luminaries as Booker T. Washington (although Corbin and Washington had different philosophies about education). Corbin was a true giant in the history of education in Arkansas. His story, told by a former UAPB student, is monumental for the scope of what one man was able to accomplish.
Joseph Carter Corbin is available at River Market Books & Gifts on the Main Library campus of the Central Arkansas Library System (CALS) in Little Rock and other bookstores; from online retailers; through the Chicago Distribution Center at (800) 621-2736; and at www.uapress.com.
Butler Center Books is the publishing division of the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies at the Central Arkansas Library System. To see a complete list of Butler Center Books, visit www.butlercenter.org/publication.
Gladys Turner Finney was born in Tamo (in Jefferson County, Arkansas), and was a member of the last graduating class of J. C. Corbin High School in Pine Bluff. She holds a Master of Social Work degree from the Atlanta University School of Social Work. Her distinguished career as a clinician, teacher, and administrator in the field of social work spanned nearly four decades. In 2012, Finney’s undergraduate alma mater, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, conferred on her the Honorary Doctorate of Laws degree for her long commitment to social work and for her efforts in empowering others through advocacy and philanthropy. She currently resides in Dayton, Ohio.
Trotwood author champions a black education pioneer
Gladys Turner Finney does her research with a purpose.
local
By Virginia Burroughs - Contributing Writer
0
Gladys Turner Finney holds her recently published book about the founder of her Arkansas college, who was an Ohio native and Ohio University graduate. CONTRIBUTED
Posted: 5:03 p.m. Friday, May 26, 2017
Trotwood resident Gladys Turner Finney weaves family research into historical context in her books, and her latest pulls together her Arkansas educational experience with Ohio and post Civil War history.
Finney’s new book is “Joseph Carter Corbin: Educator Extraordinaire and Founder of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.”
“I came to Dayton in 1959 as a social worker at the Veterans’ Administration,” said the 81-year-old. She met her late husband Frederick here.
“I wrote professional pieces, articles for newsletters and for the African-American Genealogy Group of the Miami Valley (AAGGMV) during my 40-year career — but after I retired, I had plenty of time to look at areas I really liked.”
Her first book combined a hobby with family and history. ”I collect postage stamps that feature African-Americans, and my father’s stepfather, Papa Babe, was one of my favorite people, although he didn’t collect stamps.” Nevertheless Finney put him in the book, “Papa Babe’s Stamp Collection,” published in 1983.
Her husband, a Wright-Patterson Air Force Base analyst, had written about the history of the migration of African-Americans to Dayton and the evolution of Dayton’s Model Cities Program.
“He was Model Cities’ evaluation director,” she said. Frederick passed away in 2008, before he’d completed the book “Call to the Land of Promise,” so Finney edited and had it published.
A charter member of AAGGMV, founded in 1999, Finney had written many articles for the group, and “that’s how I learned to do research and genealogy,” she said.
“In 2007, I decided to research an article on Joseph Carter Corbin, founder of my land grant university, who I’d discovered was from Ohio. Had it not been for an HBCU (Historically Black Colleges & Universities) and Joseph Carter Corbin, I would not have had an opportunity for a college education.”
Finney, a native of Tamo, Ark., was in the last graduating class of J.C. Corbin High School, the “laboratory high school” on the campus of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, and went on to get her degree at the university. “Back when it was founded as Branch Normal College, the high school was where education majors could practice,” she said.
Although Corbin is considered the father of higher education for African-Americans in Arkansas, he was originally from Chillicothe, Ohio, and was the second African-American to graduate from Ohio University in Athens.
“He graduated in 1850, then went on to earn two masters’ degrees from OU. His family moved to Cincinnati, where he became a member of the Colored School Board.
“During Reconstruction, he went to Arkansas, ran for superintendent of public education and won. He laid the foundation for former slaves in secondary education with the high school and, later, the college, working there for 27 years.”
Finney set a goal to elevate Corbin’s legacy. She said, “Friends took me to Athens to get the support of OU’s president, and on June 28 an Ohio historical marker will be dedicated on the OU campus in Chillicothe.” In addition, she started an OU scholarship in Corbin’s name.
She discovered he was buried with family in the Waldheim section of Forest Home, an historic Chicago cemetery — but without headstones — and started fundraising.
“On Memorial Day in 2013, I was able to go to the dedication of the headstones,” said Finney. “Chicago Mayor Anthony Calderone presented a resolution, and Forest Home has put Corbin on its distinguished tour.
“So many people have come on board to lift up his legacy and support my mission. I’m so happy.”
But Finney won’t be satisfied until Corbin is featured on a U.S. postage stamp and added to her collection: “I’ve been sending in petitions since 2009, and it will eventually happen.”
The book, published this year by Butler Center Books in Little Rock, is sold at her alma mater’s museum, where she’ll sign books during homecoming week.
Contact this contributing writer at virgburroughs@gmail.com.
Gladys Turner Finney was born in Tamo (in Jefferson County, Arkansas), and was a member of the last graduating class of J. C. Corbin High School in Pine Bluff. She holds a master of social work degree from the Atlanta University School of Social Work. Her distinguished career as a clinician, teacher, and administrator in the field of social work spanned nearly four decades. In 2012, Finney’s alma mater, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, conferred on her the honorary doctorate of laws degree for her long commitment to social work and for her efforts in empowering others through advocacy and philanthropy. She currently resides in Dayton, Ohio.