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Turner Normal and Industrial School

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Turner Normal and Industrial School
Turner Industrial School (1921) main building
Location
Shelbyville, Tennessee

Bedford County

United States
Information
Other namesShelbyville High School (1886–),
Turner Industrial School,
Turner Normal School,
Turner Normal and Industrial School (1896–),
Turner College (–1932)
School typePrivate Secondary School, Theology School, Industrial School, Normal School, College Prep.
Religious affiliation(s)African Methodist Episcopal Church
Established1886
Closed1932

The Turner Normal and Industrial School (1886–1932) was a private school affiliated with the AME Church, for African American students in Shelbyville, Tennessee, United States.[1][2] It existed initially as a secondary school and school of theology, and later as an industrial school, normal school, and college preparatory school. For the last two years, the school was moved to Memphis, Tennessee. It was also known as the Shelbyville High School, Turner Industrial School, Turner Normal School, and Turner College.[1][3]

Pre-history and name

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At the end of the 19th century, some twenty-seven schools for African American students that existed in Bedford County, Tennessee.[4] Prior to the school opening in Shelbyville, Tennessee, there had been a different school also affiliated with the AME Church and also named Turner College was located in Hernando, Mississippi (near Memphis, Tennessee), which later was merged with Campbell College.[5] These two schools were named after Bishop Henry McNeal Turner, who presided over the 1885 Tennessee Conference for the United Methodist Church.[1][5]

History

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Advertisement (1909) in The Nashville Globe newspaper
Advertisement (1909) in The Nashville Globe newspaper

The school in Shelbyville, Tennessee was initially established as Shelbyville High School in 1886, and was chartered in 1887.[1] It was founded during a time of school racial segregation due to Jim Crow laws, and it was for African American students. The first principal was Rev. C.S. Bowman, who also pastored the local AME Church.[1] Other presidents included Rev. B.A.J. Nixon, Rev. W.H. Shelby, Rev. C.H. Boone, Rev. J.H. Boone, and Rev. J.A. Jones.[1][6][7] The school in the 1910s offered education in theological studies, English, normal (or education), college preparatory, as well as in commercial studies, music, sewing, and millinery.[1]

This school often struggled for funding, and in June 1912 they had called to help from nearby churches including the Baptist Church, and Roger Williams University in Nashville, Tennessee.[8] In 1912, Moses McKissack III (co-founder of the Black-owned architecture firm McKissack & McKissack) designed the three-story main campus building for Turner Normal and Industrial School, which also served as the girl's dormitory and administration building.[9][10]

The name of the school changed over the years in part to reflect changes to the curricula, and it became Turner Normal, Turner Industrial, Turner Normal and Industrial Institute in 1896, and finally to Turner College.[when?][1] In 1930, the school was moved to Memphis, Tennessee, however it only existed in that city for two years. In 1932 after forty-three years in operations, the trustees announced the closure of what was then Turner College.[11]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wright, Richard Robert (August 14, 1916). "Centennial Encyclopaedia of the African Methodist Episcopal Church: Containing Principally the Biographies of the Men and Women, Both Ministers and Laymen, Whose Labors ... Helped Make the A.M.E. Church what it is : Also Short Historical Sketches ..." – via Google Books.
  2. ^ "Turner Normal" (PDF). The Nashville Globe. August 16, 1907. p. 9 – via U.S. Library of Congress.
  3. ^ "Richard R. Wright (Richard Robert), b. 1878. Centennial Encyclopaedia of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Containing Principally the Biographies of the Men and Women, both Ministers and Laymen, Whose Labors During a Hundred Years, Helped Make the A. M. E. Church What It Is; Also Short Historical Sketches of Annual Conferences, Educational Institutions, General Departments, Missionary Societies of the A. M. E. Church, and General Information about African Methodism and the Christian Church in General; Being a Literary Contribution to the Celebration of the One Hundredth Anniversary of the Formation of the African Methodist Episcopal Church Denomination by Richard Allen and others, at Philadelphia, Penna., in 1816". docsouth.unc.edu.
  4. ^ Lovett, Bobby L. (2005). The Civil Rights Movement in Tennessee: A Narrative History. Univ. of Tennessee Press. p. 77. ISBN 978-1-57233-443-4.
  5. ^ a b Angell, Stephen Ward (August 14, 1992). Bishop Henry McNeal Turner and African-American Religion in the South. Univ. of Tennessee Press. pp. 160–161. ISBN 9781572331563 – via Google Books.
  6. ^ Smith, Charles Spencer; Payne, Daniel Alexander (1922). "Turner Normal College". A History of the African Methodist Episcopal Church: Being a Volume Supplemental to a History of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. London, Johnson Reprint. p. 365 – via Google Books.
  7. ^ "Turner Normal School Ad". digital.mtsu.edu. The Nashville Globe. 1909. p. 9 – via Middle Tennessee State University, Chronicling America.
  8. ^ "Article clipped from The Nashville Globe". The Nashville Globe. 1912-06-28. p. 4. Retrieved 2024-09-18.
  9. ^ "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: McKissack and McKissack Buildings in Nashville (1908-1930) Thematic Resources". United States Department of the Interior. January 2, 1985.
  10. ^ "Shelbyville Notes". The Nashville Globe. December 6, 1912. p. 2. Retrieved 2024-09-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Turner College To Discontinue Sale". Nashville Banner. 1932-06-24. p. 7. Retrieved 2024-09-18 – via Newspapers.com.
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