Henry McNeal Turner High School
Henry McNeal Turner High School was part of the Atlanta Public School System between 1951 until its eventual closing in 1990. H.M. Turner High was named after famed writer, orator, and religious leader Henry McNeal Turner, whose frustration and with the racial climate in the 19th century led him to embrace Black Nationalism. The school was considered Atlanta’s most prestigious black public high school during the days of segregation and produced some of the finest and most accomplished graduates in the southeast. Many of these graduates experienced segregation and discrimination early in their lives and went on to become leaders of integration and desegregation amongst universities, businesses, and governments in the South. Some of the noteworthy alumni from Turner High School include Dr. Hamilton Holmes, Charlayne Hunter-Gault, and Mary Frances Early. Dr. Holmes graduated as valedictorian from Turner High School in 1959. He was one of the first two African American students admitted to the University of Georgia in 1961 and graduation with a bachelor of science degree cum laude in 1963. While his time at the University of Georgia was grueling due to racial tensions, Dr.Holmes became a major supporter of his alma mater and became the first black trustee to the University of Georgia Foundation (Hammes). Charlayne Hunter-Gault was the other African American student admitted to the University of Georgia with Hamilton Holmes. She graduated from the university in 1963 with a degree in journalism and carried on her professional career with many prominent medias like The New Yorker, The New York Times, and CNN. Despite her difficulties as a student at the university, Hunter-Gault has kept close with her alma mater through the creation of the annual Holmes-Hunter lecture and donation of her papers ot the Richard B. Russell Library (Nash).
Bibliography
Hammes, Mary Jessica. “Holmes, Hamilton.” American National Biography Online, Oxford University Press, 2002. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.1202111.
Johnson, Andre E. “Henry McNeal Turner.” Salem Press Biographical Encyclopedia, 2013. EBSCOhost, proxy-remote.galib.uga.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ers&AN=89098522&site=eds-live.
Nash, Amanda. "Charlayne Hunter-Gault (b. 1942)." New Georgia Encyclopedia. 04 September 2018. Web. 08 November 2018.