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fix dumb typos
Signed-off-by: Chad Dougherty <[email protected]>
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_posts/2025-02-01-black-history-spotlight-charles-turner.md

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description="C. H. Turner, August 9, 1921; a gelatin silver print of Charles Henry Turner at Sumner High School, St. Louis, Missouri. 15 x 10 cm. From the W. E. B. Du Bois Papers"
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Recently, while reading Lars Chittka's 2022 book, [_The Mind of a Bee_](https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691180472/the-mind-of-a-bee), I became intruiged by the story of zoologist [Charles Henry Turner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Henry_Turner_(zoologist)). In recognition of Black History Month (and coincidentally Turner's birthday), I'd like to share a short summary of what I learned about this outstanding Black American scientist.
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Recently, while reading Lars Chittka's 2022 book, [_The Mind of a Bee_](https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691180472/the-mind-of-a-bee), I became intrigued by the story of zoologist [Charles Henry Turner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Henry_Turner_(zoologist)). In recognition of Black History Month (and coincidentally Turner's birthday), I'd like to share a short summary of what I learned about this outstanding Black American scientist.
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Charles Henry Turner was born in Cincinatti, Ohio in 1867, just two years after the end of the US Civil War. Turner excelled in school and was valedictorian of his graduating class at Woodard High School. He earned a B.S. in Biology from the University of Cincinatti in 1891 and then went on to become the first African American to earn a graduate degree from that same University when he earned his M.S. in Biology in 1892. In 1907, he earned his Ph.D. in Zoology, _magna cum laude_, likely being the first African American to earn a doctorate from the University of Chicago and certainly among only a tiny handful of Black people to have done so anywhere in the US at that time.[^nih]
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Charles Henry Turner was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1867, just two years after the end of the US Civil War. Turner excelled in school and was valedictorian of his graduating class at Woodard High School. He earned a B.S. in Biology from the University of Cincinnati in 1891 and then went on to become the first African American to earn a graduate degree from that same University when he earned his M.S. in Biology in 1892. In 1907, he earned his Ph.D. in Zoology, _magna cum laude_, likely being the first African American to earn a doctorate from the University of Chicago and certainly among only a tiny handful of Black people to have done so anywhere in the US at that time.[^nih]
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After receiving his doctorate, Turner faced problems finding a job in academia. He was considered for a professorship at the University of Chicago, but the professor who invited him to apply died and, according to sociologist and civil rights activist W. E. B. Du Bois, his replacement refused to hire a Black scientist.[^knowable] At the Tuskegee Institute, Turner was turned down because president Booker T. Washington reportedly could not afford to pay the salaries of both Turner and another famous Black American scientist, George Washington Carver.[^okstate] Turner consequently worked as a high school teacher for the remainder of his career, spending most of it at Sumner High School in St. Louis, Missouri. He continued to pursue his research and publication throughout his career, even while teaching high school. I was amazed to learn that Turner used bees as teaching tools to demonstrate principles of complex behavior even in his high school biology classes. One of my favorite notes suggesting his effectiveness in this regard comes from one of his students:[^okstate]
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>"The bees appeared at the table at all three meals. Then Dr. Turner put jam only at breakfast daily. They still came to each meal but found no jam at noon and night. Soon they stopped coming. This shows they have some idea of time."

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