Charles Henry Turner

Charles Henry Turner (February 3,1867 - February 14,1923) was a zoologist born in Cincinnati, Ohio.

In 1907, he became the first African American to earn a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago.

Despite his doctorate, Turner chose to teach at high schools. Most sources attribute this career move to a desire to devote more time to the observation of insects, but Charles I. Abramson, in his 2003 article on Turner for "American Bee Journal", claims that Turner was unable, rather than unwilling, to get an appointment at the University of Chicago, and that the Tuskegee Institute could not afford his salary.

Turner published 49 papers on invertebrates, including "Habits of Mound-Building Ants," "Experiments on the Color Vision of the Honeybee," "Hunting Habits of an American Sand Wasp," and "Psychological Notes on the Gallery Spider." In his research, Turner became the first person to prove that insects can hear and can distinguish pitch. In addition, he first discovered that cockroaches can learn by trial and error and that honeybees can see color.

Besides his scientific work, Turner was active in the struggle to obtain social and educational services for African Americans in St. Louis, Missouri. After his death, a school for disabled African American children was named in his honor.

He died on February 14, 1923 from acute myocarditis in Chicago. His place of interment is Lincoln Cemetery in Chicago.

References

* [http://www.aaregistry.com/african_american_history/684/Zoolologist_and_inventor_Charles_Turner A page on Turner from the African American Registry]
* [http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0800431.html Charles Henry Turner] at Fact Monster
*Project Gutenberg eBook [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/18772 Twentieth Century Negro Literature]
** [http://psychology.okstate.edu/museum/turner/turnerbio.html CHT - Biography ] at psychology.okstate.edu C. I. Abramson's biography of Turner
*cite book
title=Portraits of pioneers in psychology
author=Gregory A. Kimble, Michael Wertheimer, C. Alan Boneau, Charlotte White, American Psychological Association Division of General Psychology, American Psychological Association
year=1991
publisher=Routledge
isbn=0805859306
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=ScfTAFCy5ZQC&pg=PA40&lpg=PA40&dq=charles+henry+turner+date+of+death&source=web&ots=z-BImXb1_1&sig=Rcg4XtcL1ZEiJbjYu47TA8IT4gY