J. Milton Turner School

The J. Milton Turner School, initially called the Meacham Park School, opened in 1925 and served African American students ad families in the Meacham Park Subdivision, a predominantly African American neighborhood. The school serves as a reminder of the history of school segregation as well as the efforts of Black educators and influential Black leaders such as J. Milton Turner an enslaved person who became a U.S. foreign diplomat. 

Missouri, a slave state until the Civil War, generally resembled the South with its racial attitudes. The state forbade educating people of African descent prior to the war. In fact, the law required a $500 fine or six months in jail if caught educating any person of color. After the war, the state constitution (1865) legally required the education of Black students, but the state also mandated that there be separate schools in districts of more than twenty Black students. In addition to requiring segregation in many Missouri communities, this effectively left many areas without any public educational system, which led to families moving to larger communities or sending their children to live with relatives.

In short, legalized segregation in Missouri (including the St. Louis area) existed almost immediately after the war and remained the standard well into the twentieth century. White schools usually possessed superior equipment, facilities, and books. Black children met first in a church and then bounced from building to building (sometimes portable structures) until the 1950s. 

J. Milton Turner School, originally known as Meacham Park School, opened in 1924 as a direct response to the pressure black parents put on the local school board since the late 1910s. The parents argued that the district had inadequate educational opportunities for Black students. A bond issue in 1929 provided funds for the school's enlargement into an L-shaped building. In 1932, overcrowding at Washington School forced officials to transfer its sixth-grade students to Meacham Park, which changed its name to J. Milton Turner School that same year. In 1937, New Deal funds led to the construction of a brick addition, which allowed Junior High students to attend the school along with elementary students; Black high school students traveled to schools in other districts until 1955. The 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court ruling made segregation illegal in the U.S. However, the overwhelming majority of residents in Meacham were Black, so the Turner school remained all-Black until it closed in 1976 as the school district relied on neighborhood school boundaries. 

Turner School initially went by the name Meacham Park School because of its location within the Meacham Park community. Developed in 1892 by Elzey E. Meacham, a white real estate promoter from Memphis, Tennessee, the community eventually evolved into an African American enclave. Elzey Meacham sympathized with the struggles facing African Americans. Meacham named numerous streets in Meacham Park based on Black history. For instance, the street "Attucks" derives its name from Crispus Attucks, the first man to die in the Boston Massacre in 1770. 

However, after an economic slowdown, Meacham left the St. Louis area in 1900. Because he left, the development of his namesake community went unfinished, leaving it sans streetlights, water, sewers, or pavement. In fact, water and sewer lines did not arrive until 1969. Still, people moved into the area. The first business to open was a store operated by a White man, George Cabiness. Seven years later, in 1919, a Black man named D. M. Powell opened a grocery, the neighborhood's first Black-owned store. 

Records show that 1065 of the 1365 people in Meacham Park were Black in 1950, many of whom lived in poverty. Still, evidence points to a strong sense of community in the neighborhood. However, urban blight and crime led to the deterioration of Meacham Park during and after the 1950s. During the 1970s and into the '80s, new houses and apartments, improved infrastructure, and general improvements rejuvenated the area; the City of Kirkwood annexed Meacham Park in 1992. The improvements included replacing most older homes, leaving the school as one of the few reminders of Meacham Park. 

About J. Milton Turner

James Milton Turner was born into slavery in St. Louis County around 1839, but his father purchased Turner's freedom in 1844. Turner received an education at a clandestine school operated by John Berry Meachum, another formerly enslaved person, and then attended Oberlin College in Ohio from 1855-57. His educational pursuits inspired him to become a lifelong activist for educating all Blacks in Missouri. His activism included involvement in politics. In 1870, President Ulysses S. Grant appointed Turner as Minister to the Republic of Liberia, making him the second African American to represent the U.S. as a foreign diplomat. In 1883, a few years after returning to the U.S., Turner focused on helping former slaves of the Cherokee, Choctaw, and Chickasaw nations in Oklahoma. He promoted the Cherokee Freedmen's Act of 1888 and spent several years settling its effects. Lastly, Turner promoted a home for disadvantaged members of the Prince Hall Masons. He died in 1915, and his subsequent funeral proved to be one of the largest ever held in St. Louis.

"Boston National Historical Park: Crispus Attucks." National Park Service. Accessed May 8, 2023. https://www.nps.gov/people/crispus-attucks.htm.

Hamilton, Esley. "Registration Form: J. Milton Turner School." National Register of Historic Places. mostateparks.com. 2002. https://mostateparks.com/sites/mostateparks/files/J.%20Milton%20Turner%20School.pdf. 

Jones, Devry Becker. "J. Milton Turner School." The Historical Marker Database. March 24, 2021. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=169302.

McMunn, Andrew. "Black history is deeply rooted in formation of Meacham Park in Kirkwood." Webster University: The Journal. March 21, 2018. https://websterjournal.com/2018/03/21/black-history-deeply-rooted-formation-meacham-park-kirkwood/.