James Milton Turner --education is the key to freedom - Statues of Historic Figures on Waymarking.com

James Milton Turner's bronze bust by sculptor Kwan Wu of Kansas City
is located in the relatively new (1990s) Morgan Street Park in Boonville,Missouri at the corner of Main and Morgan in downtown Boonville. The site was developed as a memorial for six prominent persons who lived in Boonville and then in their own ways reached out to America and the world.

The largest statue is of pioneer Hannah Cole as the central
figure of the small park. The other memorial tributes are bronze busts mounted on marble pedestals of equal height facing Morgan Street.

In addition to the James Milton Turner bust added in 2005 by Kansas City sculptor Kwan Wu are busts of Walter Williams--journalism pioneer,George Caleb Bingham--artist and David Barton--politician, Fredrick Kemper--military school founder.

An excerpt of the words on the plaque below Turner's bronze bust
were written by Brett Rogers reads:

"James Milton Turner was born a slave in St. Louis, Missouri.
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 and emancipation. He worked tirelessly for
black sufferage and other civil rights. First and foremost, he
passionately believed that education was the key to freedom."
.......
He also played a major role in the founding and funding of Lincoln Institute (now Lincopln University) 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."

After visiting this pocket park, I enjoyed reading the book "James Milton Turner and the Promise of America" by Missouri historian Gary
R. Kremer. Of particular interest to me was the story of Turner's participation in the Civil War(1861-62) and how he was destined to come face-to-face with General Ulysses S. Grant at the battle of Shiloh, Tennessee in 1862. Turner would later be appointed by President Grant to serve as the foreign minister to the African nation of Liberia.

URL of the statue: [Web Link]

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Date Logged Log User Rating   09/30/2021 YoSam. visited it