Henry M. Turner
*Henry McNeal Turner was born on this date in 1834. He was a Black Nationalist, Repatriations advocate, and Minister.
From Abbeville, South Carolina, born of free parents, McNeal was ordained a minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1853 and became a Bishop in 1880. In 1863, he became the first Black army chaplain, and he was the president of Morris Brown College for twelve years. Turner was a leading advocate of Black repatriations. In 1867, the American Colonization Society elected him as their president, and he made several trips abroad on their behalf.
Turner was convinced that Blacks had no future in America. Instead, he felt that God had brought Blacks to the New World as a means of spreading Christianity and preparing them to redeem Africa. Turner edited and published several papers, including Voice of Missions and Voice of the People, in which he advocated the black colonization of Africa. Henry Turner died on May 8th, 1915.
