James Milton Turner
(1839 - 1915)
Born in slavery in St. Louis County, Mo.
Freed 1843
Founder, Elias Buckner African-American School in Boonville 1869
Established 32 Missouri schools for African-Americans in 1870
Secured state funding for Lincoln Institute (later Lincoln University)
Secretary, Missouri Equal Rights League
U.S. Minister and Counsel General
to Liberia, 1871-78
Founder, Colored Emigration Aid Association
Hannibal Black Masonic Home Advocate
Attorney for the Cherokee Freedmen
Buried, Father Dickson's Cemetery, St. Louis County, Mo.
Dedicated August 7, 2005
Sculptor: Kwan Wu
James Milton Turner was born a slave in St. Louis, Missouri, on August 22, 1839. By the time of his death, on November 1, 1915, he had devoted a lifetime to the betterment of humanity and above all, to the education of his own African American race.
Freed in 1843, he became an outspoken advocate of abolition and the rights of Freedmen. After the Civil War and Emancipation, he worked tirelessly for black suffrage and other civil rights. First and foremost, he passionately believed that education was the key to freedom.
In 1868 he and his wife Ella came to Boonville and established the first African American school in the area, where both taught. In 1869 he began one of the greatest projects of his life, as a field agent for the Freedmen's Bureau and a representative of the State Superintendent of Schools. From his home base of Boonville, Turner fought racism and helped establish more than thirty African American public schools in Missouri. He also played a major role in the founding and funding of Lincoln Institute in Jefferson City - a school that would train generations of African American teachers.
Sadly, the importance of Turner's contributions was never fully recognized during his lifetime. His tremendous and visionary efforts were a bold early step toward a racially free and equal United States.
-Brett Rogers
Marker is on Morgan Street near Main Street (U.S. 40), on the left when traveling east.
Courtesy hmdb.org
