J. Milton Turner: An Appraisal
BY LAWRENCE O. CHRISTENSEN*
Few black Missourians have received the historical attention
bestowed on James Milton Turner, and for good reason.1 Turner
rose from slavery to statewide significance in a brief twenty-five
years. By the age of the thirty-one he had been appointed minister
resident and consul general to Liberia, one of the first black
Americans to receive a diplomatic post. Serving in Liberia for
*A former contributor to the Review, Lawrence O. Christensen is an
assistant professor of History at the University of Missouri-Rolla. He received
the B.S. Ed. and M.A. degrees from Northeast Missouri State University, Kirks-
ville, and the Ph.D. degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia. An
earlier version of this article was presented at the 1975 Missouri Valley History
Conference.
1 Irving Dilliard, "James Milton Turner, a Little Known Benefactor of
His People," Journal of Negro History, XIX (October, 1934), 372-411; Irving
Dilliard, "Dred Scott Eulogized by James Milton Turner," ibid., XXVI (January,
1941), 1-11; Irving Dilliard, "They Came From Missouri and They Showed
the World," Missouri Historical Review, XXXVI (October, 1941), 3-31; N.
Webster Moore, "James Milton Turner, Diplomat, Educator, and Defender
of Rights 1840-1915," Missouri Historical Society Bulletin, XXVII (April, 1971) ,
194-201; Floyd C. Shoemaker, "Some Colorful Lawyers in the History of Missouri, 1804-1904," Missouri Historical Review, LIII (January, April, 1959),
125-131, 227-237; Dorothy J. Caldwell, "Vignettes of Famous Missourians, James
Milton Turner," ibid., LIV (October, 1959), 55-57.
