Charles H. Turner, Ph.D.
As a society, we often neglect very important contributions of those ahead of their time. Even more impressive are those that make substantial contributions in the face of extreme adversity. Dr. Charles H. Turner is unfortunately one of these unrecognized early American heroes. Dr. Turner, despite experiencing overt racism and discrimination, made major advances in science. Not only was he the first African American scientist to publish in the prestigious journal Science, but he developed scientific apparatus that are still in use today. Unfortunately, Dr. Turner is surprisingly absent in discussion of great American scientists, African-American scientists, or even Black History Month. In a time when Star Wars and The Simpsons receive their own USPS postage stamp, the least we can do to honor Dr. Turner is have an official USPS stamp created. If you would like to be involved in the campaign to have a Dr. Charles H. Turner USPS stamp created, please contact Drs. Abramson or Dempsey. You may also want to visit some of the resource sites below.
Charles H. Turner, Ph.D. Postage Stampe Campaign
Adapted from USPS postage stamp nomination by Dr. Charles I. Abramson
We believe Dr. Charles Henry Turner meets criteria for an official USPS postage stamp and should be considered for this singular honor. We also believe Professor Dr. Turner has been neglected in the United States, as well as access to a selection of both his civil rights and scientific papers. Dr. Turner is an African American Scientist whose contributions rivaled George Washington Carver. We would like the stamp to honor the life of Professor Dr. Turner, not just for a single historical event or scientific contribution.
Professor Dr. Turner was an educator and scientist of world renown. After looking at the all of the contributions Dr. Turner has made, we believe that most people would agree that such recognition is long overdue. Dr. Turner, for instance, discovered new species, created apparatus still in use today, initiated controls in his experiments now known to be important for behavioral research, was the first African American to publish in the journal Science, discovered a particular behavior elicited by ants (the French named this movement after its discover and call it the “Turner Circling”), was a leader of the early civil rights movement, published over 70 scientific papers, and has several schools in the St. Louis area named in his honor. These are just a few of his achievements. The life of Dr. Turner is truly inspirational. We believe that a USPS postage stamp will not only have wide spread appeal in the United States, but that this honor is long overdue. We hope that you consider becoming involved in this effort. We welcome any and all forms of support and collaboration.
Sincerely,
Dr. Charles I. Abramson
Charles.abramson@okstate.edu
Dr. Jared P. Dempsey
Jared.dempsey@okstate.edu
Charles Henry Turner (1867-1923) was a pioneer of the comparative psychology/animal behavior movement in America and one of the most influential scientists working on problems of comparative psychology from the late 1890s through the early 1920s. Although trained as a zoologist - he received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1907 - his research focused on psychological topics (today Professor Dr. Turner would be called a biopsychologist). His contributions include: the development of techniques to measure learning and other types of behavior of several invertebrate species (some of these techniques are still used more then 70 years after their invention), initiating the first controlled studies of color vision and pattern vision in honey bees, and placing an emphasis, which was unique at the time, on how training variables such as intertrial interval, intersession interval, individual differences and age of subjects influence performance. In addition to his behavioral work, Professor Dr. Turner also published extensive anatomical studies of both the avian and crustacean brain, discovered a new species of invertebrate, and wrote on social and educational issues of the day. In regards to the latter, Professor Dr. Turner was a leader in the civil rights movement in St. Louis and was also instrumental in developing social services for African Americans in the St. Louis area.
The importance of Professor Dr. Turner’s work was recognized by leaders in the animal behavior movement. John B. Watson, for example, in considering a study on ant behavior, called Professor Dr. Turner’s method “ingenious.” Professor Dr. Turner’s work was also discussed by such well known psychologists of the day as Margaret Washburn, E. L. Thorndike, and T. C. Schneirla. In addition to psychologists, Professor Dr. Turner’s work was cited by entomologists such as Eugene-Louis Bouvier and physiologists such as Adrian Horridge. Moreover, in the animal behavior literature of France a particular type of ant movement toward the nest is known as “Turner’s circling” in honor of its discoverer.
Professor Dr. Turner’s reputation was such that he was asked to prepare review articles on insect behavior for the “Psychological Literature” section of Psychological Bulletin from 1908 to 1912. From 1911 to 1917 Professor Dr. Turner contributed similar reviews to the Journal of Animal Behavior. The styles of these reviews are comparable to articles appearing in the Annual Review of Psychology. Perhaps the greatest testament to the importance of Professor Dr. Turner’s work is that, despite being unknown, he is still cited in contemporary research. As Thomas Cadwallader (1984) points out in a review of Professor Dr. Turner’s many contribution’s, between the years 1965-1976 (some 40 years after his death in 1923), his work was cited 27 times. Perhaps the greatest testament of Professor Dr. Turner’s influence as an educator is that in St. Louis a high school is named after him. We know of no other scientist engaged in psychologist problems who has received such an honor.
Professor Dr. Turner’s contributions to the psychological study of animal behavior and to social reform are such that a national recognition of his achievements is appropriate. Professor Dr. Turner’s scientific and educational achievements are made more remarkable when one considers that he was an African American. In studies on the contribution of African Americans to psychology Turner is often overlooked. Robert Guthrie’s book Even the Rat was White (1976) mentions, for example, that Francis Sumner was the first African American to receive a Ph.D. in psychology (in 1920 from Clark University) and that J. Henry Alston, also in 1920, was the first African American to publish in a American psychological journal. The contributions of Professor Dr. Charles Turner are not mentioned even though Professor Dr. Turner’s first psychological paper was published in 1892 - 28 years before Alston and that Professor Dr. Turner received his Ph.D. in 1907 - 13 years before Sumner. Professor Dr. Turner is also not mentioned in histories of the comparative psychology/animal behavior movement in the United States. Hilgard (1987) in his Psychology in America: A historical Survey, Hearst (Ed.) (1979) in his The First Century of Experimental Psychology, and Brennan (1998) in his History and Systems of Psychology all fail, for example, to mention a single contribution by Professor Dr. Turner.
Although Professor Dr. Turner is neglected in histories of psychology, his contributions have been described in various histories of African American scientists. Very brief biographies appear, for instance, in Baskin and Runes’ Dictionary of Black Culture (1973) and in Haydens’ Seven Black American Scientists (1970). Sadly, the majority of Professor Dr. Turner’s work is unknown to generations of behavioral psychologists, few know that he was an African American, and we would dare say that few African Americans have ever heard of him. The book we have included with this application is the first and only volume containing a selection of his papers. One of the goals of the book was to use it as data in submitting our application to your committee.
In addition to making a new generation of scientists aware of Professor Dr. Turner’s many contributions, we believe that a commemorative stamp will aid and stimulate historians to study Professor Dr. Turner’s contribution to psychology (and to the history of zoology and entomology as well). We also hope that a stamp will serve as a source of inspiration to stimulate both minority students and students from disadvantaged backgrounds to enter careers in science. A recent report in the American College Teacher indicates that ethnic diversity in university faculty is at a “standstill.” The percentage of new African American faculty, for example, has declined from 4% in 1989 to 2.6% in 1998. His ability to succeed, indeed excel, as a scientist and educator in the early 1900s can only help to inspire students to follow his example. Finally we hope that a commemorative stamp will spur interest in the creation of an annual Charles H. Turner Award to be given to a scientist that best exemplifies Professor Dr. Turner’s devotion to teaching, love of research, and dedication to social issues.
Selected Scientific Papers
Here we include a sample of the titles of some of Professor Dr. Turner’s work. Many of these papers are reprinted in the volume we have included with our application. Included also, are some titles of obituaries that appeared in his honor. These are also included.
1. Turner, C. H. (1891). Morphology of the avian brain. Journal of Comparative Neurology, 1, 39-93, 107-133, 265-286.
2. Turner, C. H. (1892a). Psychological notes upon the gallery spider - Illustration of intelligent variations in the construction of the web. Journal of Comparative Neurology, 2, 95-110.
3. Turner, C. H. (1892b). Additional psychological note upon the gallery spider. Journal of Comparative Neurology, 2, 156-157.
4. Turner, C. H. (1892c). A few characteristics of the avian brain. Science, 19, 16-17.
5. Turner, C. H. (1892d). Notes upon Cladocera, Copedoda, Ostracoda, and Rotifera, of Cincinnati, with description of a new species. Bulletin of the Scientific Laboratory of Denison University, 1891-1892, 6, 57-74.
6. Turner, C. H. (1901). The mushroom bodies of the crayfish and their histological environment. Journal of Comparative Neurology, 11, 321-367.
7. Turner, C. H. (1906). A preliminary note on ant behavior. Biological Bulletin, 12, 31-36.
8. Turner, C. H. (1907a). The homing of ants: An experimental study of ant behavior. The Journal of Comparative Neurology and Psychology, 17, 367-434.
9. Turner, C. H. (1907b). Do ants form practical judgments? Biological Bulletin, 13, 333-343.
10. Turner, C. H. (1908b). The sun-dance of Melissodes. Biological Bulletin, 15, 122-124.
11. Turner, C. H. (1908a). The homing of the mud-dauber. Biological Bulletin, 15, 215-225.
12. Turner, C. H. (1908c). The homing of the burrowing-bee (Anthrophodidae). Biological Bulletin, 15, 247-258.
13. Turner, C. H. (1909). The mound of Pogonomyrmex badius latrl. And its relation to the breeding habits of the species. Biological Bulletin, 19, 257-279.
14. Turner, C. H. (1910). Experiments on color-vision of the honey bee. Biological Bulletin, 19, 257-279.
15. Turner, C. H. (1911a). Experiments on pattern-vision of the honey bee. Biological Bulletin, 21, 249-264.
16. Turner, C. H. (1911b). Recent literature on the behavior of the higher invertebrates. Psychological Bulletin, 8, 277-286.
17. Turner, C. H. (1912a). Sphex overcoming obstacles. Psyche, 19, 100-102.
18. Turner, C. H. (1912b). An experimental investigation of an apparent reversal of the responses to light of the roach (Periplaneta orientalis L.). Biological Bulletin, 23, 371-386.
19. Turner, C. H. (1913). Behavior of the common roach (Periplaneta orientalis L.). Biological Bulletin, 25, 348-365.
20. Turner, C. H. (1915). Notes on the behavior of the ant-lion with emphasis on the feeding activities and letisimulation. Biological Bulletin, 29, 277-307.
21. Turner, C. H. (1918). The locomotions of surface-feeding caterpillars are not tropisms. Biological Bulletin, 34, 137-148.
22. Turner, C. H. (1923a). Tropisms in insect behavior. Transactions of the Academy of Science of St. Louis, 24, 19-26.
23. Turner, C. H. (1923b). The homing of Hymenoptera. Transactions of the Academy of Science of St. Louis, 24, 27-45.
24. Turner, C. H. (1923c). The psychology of “playing possum.” Transactions of the Academy of Science of St. Louis, 24, 46-54.
25. Turner, C. H. (1924). A new field method of investigating the hydrotropisms of fresh-water invertebrates. Biological Bulletin, 46, 35-54.
26. Turner, C. H. (1897). Reason for Teaching Biology in Negro Schools. Southwestern Christian Advocate.
27. Turner, C. H. (1899). New year thoughts about the Negro. Southwestern Christian Advocate.
28. Turner, C. H. (1902). Will the education of the Negro solve the race problem. In D. W. Culp (Ed.)
(1902). Twentieth Century Negro Literature: A Cyclopedia of Thought on the Vital Topics Relating to the American Negro (pp. 162-166).
Obituaries
29. Pohlman, A. G. (1923). Charles Henry Turner, An appreciation. Transactions of the Academy of Science of St. Louis, 24, 7-9.
30. Rau, P. (1923a). The scientific work of Dr. Charles Henry Turner. Transactions of the Academy of Science of St. Louis, 24, 11-16.
31. Rau, P. (1923c). Dr. Charles Henry Turner. Entomological News, 34, 289-292.
32. The Maroon and White: Charles Sumner High School, St. Louis, Mo. (1924).