Angie Turner King

Angie Lena Turner King (December 9, 1905 – February 28, 2004) was an American chemist, mathematician, and educator. King was an instructor of chemistry and mathematics at West Virginia State High School, and a professor of chemistry and mathematics at West Virginia State College (present-day West Virginia State University) in Institute.

Angie Turner King
Born
Angie Lena Turner

(1905-12-09)December 9, 1905
Elkhorn, West Virginia, U.S.
DiedFebruary 28, 2004(2004-02-28) (aged 98)
Institute, West Virginia, U.S.
Alma mater
Spouse(s)Robert Elemore King
Children5
Scientific career
Fields
  • Chemistry
  • Mathematics
Institutions
Notable students

King was born in the segregated coal mining community of Elkhorn in McDowell County, West Virginia, in 1905. She had a difficult childhood following the death of her mother at the age of eight. King graduated from high school at age of 14 in 1919, and studied at Bluefield Colored Institute (present-day Bluefield State College) before transferring to West Virginia State (then known as the West Virginia Collegiate Institute). She graduated from West Virginia State, cum laude, with a Bachelor of Science in chemistry and mathematics in 1927. She commenced her career in education at the West Virginia State High School, West Virginia State's laboratory high school, and during the summers, she attended graduate school at Cornell University, where she earned her master's degree in physical chemistry in 1931.

After eight years teaching high school, King became an associate professor at West Virginia State College, where she refurbished the laboratory to improve the quality of her students' laboratory experience. Following the outbreak of World War II, King instructed chemistry to soldiers in West Virginia State's Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP) unit. She later attended the University of Pittsburgh, where she earned her Doctor of Philosophy in general education in 1955. King was an educator and mentor for several notable students, including entomologist and activist Margaret Strickland Collins, mathematician Katherine Johnson of Hidden Figures, and Jasper Brown Jeffries of the Manhattan Project. King later served as the chairperson of West Virginia State College's Division of Natural Resources and Mathematics, and she retired from the college in 1980. She continued to reside on the West Virginia State campus following her retirement, and in 1992, West Virginia State awarded King an honorary Doctor of Laws degree.

Early life and education

Angie Lena Turner King (née Turner) was born in the segregated coal mining community of Elkhorn in McDowell County, West Virginia, on December 9, 1905.[1][2][3] She was the daughter of William Turner and his wife Laura King Turner, who were both originally from Virginia.[3][4] King had two siblings, Sylvia and Irving.[4] King was the grandchild of Virginia slaves, who were provided with land, a steer, and a log cabin following their emancipation.[1][2] King had a difficult childhood.[2] Her mother died when she was eight-years-old,[1][2] and she was sent to live with her light-skinned maternal grandmother, who referred to King by a pejorative term on account of her darker skin tone.[2][5] King eventually returned to live with her father.[2] King's father was illiterate, and he encouraged her to attend and do well in school.[2] King's father later died on November 8, 1927 after being run over by a mining car.[2][6][7]

King graduated from high school at age of 14 in 1919.[2][5] Because of her good grades and academic record in high school, her teachers encouraged her to attend college.[2][5] She attended Bluefield Colored Institute (present-day Bluefield State College) in Bluefield for several years, and then transferred to West Virginia Collegiate Institute (present-day West Virginia State University) in Institute.[2][5] Throughout her tenure as a college student, King worked a number of jobs, including waitressing and dishwashing, to pay for her tuition and expenses.[2][5] In 1927, King graduated from West Virginia State, cum laude, with a Bachelor of Science in chemistry and mathematics.[2][5][8] At the time of her graduation, her hometown was listed as Eckman.[8]

Career in education

King commenced her career in education as an instructor in chemistry and mathematics at West Virginia State High School, West Virginia State's laboratory high school.[2][5][9] During the summers, King attended Cornell University and paid for her tuition on her own.[2][5] King's thesis in chemistry at Cornell was entitled, "The Interaction Between Solutions of Tannic Acid and Hydrous Ferric Oxide."[5][10] She earned her master's degree in physical chemistry from Cornell in 1931.[2][5][9] King was also active in student activities, and in 1935, she directed the high school's play, "The Ghost Parade," by Katharine Kavanaugh.[11] She taught at West Virginia State High School for eight years, until she was offered a teaching position as an associate professor at West Virginia State College.[2][5] King immediately set about refurbishing her laboratory to ensure her students were able to experience "what a real laboratory was like."[2][5] King continued to support student activities as a professor, and she served as the faculty sponsor for West Virginia State's Nu chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.[12] During the summer of 1939, King completed graduate coursework in education at the University of Chicago.[13]

Following the outbreak of World War II, West Virginia State received an Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP) unit from 1943 to 1944.[14][15] King was one of West Virginia State's instructors for the ASTP soldiers, teaching chemistry.[14][15] The ASTP was established in response to a concern that the war would result in a shortage of college graduates needed as military officers after the war.[14] West Virginia State was one of six historically black colleges and universities awarded an ASTP unit.[14]

In the 1950s, King attended the University of Pittsburgh, where she earned her Doctor of Philosophy in general education in 1955.[2][16][17][18] King's dissertation was entitled, "An Analysis of Early Algebra Textbooks Used in American Secondary Schools before 1900."[16][17][19] Her master's thesis and doctoral dissertation were her only published research.[2]

While teaching at West Virginia State High School and West Virginia State College, King was an educator and mentor for several remarkable students, including entomologist and activist Margaret Strickland Collins, mathematician Katherine Johnson of Hidden Figures, and Jasper Brown Jeffries of the Manhattan Project.[2][20] In the West Virginia State High School Reunion Booklet, 27 former students selected King as their favorite teacher, and at least 20 of those students went on to complete graduate school.[2] Katherine Johnson cited King as an influence on her, both in high school and college, and described King as "a wonderful teacher—bright, caring, and very rigorous."[20][21] King taught Johnson geometry in high school, and later taught her math in college and continued to encourage and mentor Johnson in her mathematics studies.[20]

Later life and death

By 1969, King was the chairperson of West Virginia State College's Division of Natural Resources and Mathematics.[22] In the 1970s, King traveled to Africa to visit mission sites of the Presbyterian Church in the United States and to secure information on the status of women in Zaire, Kenya, and Ethiopia, and in 1974, she delivered a presentation on "The Status of Women in East Africa" to the Lewisburg Branch of the American Association of University Women.[23] King served as the chairperson of the West Virginia Governor's Commission on the Status of Women,[24][25] and in that capacity, she spoke alongside Gloria Steinem at a conference on Appalachian women at Morris Harvey College in 1975.[24] King retired from West Virginia State in 1980, and she continued to reside on the West Virginia State campus following her retirement.[16][26] In 1992, West Virginia State awarded King an honorary Doctor of Laws degree.[27] King died in Institute on February 28, 2004.[16]

Personal life

Marriage and family

King married Robert Elemore King on June 9, 1946 in Institute.[16][28] She and her husband had five daughters, whom King raised while working and continuing her post-graduate studies.[16] King's husband died in 1958.[16]

Organizational affiliations and awards

King served as the editor of the West Virginia State College Alumni Bulletin, a bi-monthly periodical of West Virginia State's alumni association.[29] In 1954, King was recognized as the first West Virginia State Alumnus of the Year.[16][22][30] She was a member of the American Association of University Women, in which she served in several offices, to include second vice president and president of the West Virginia state division.[22][23] King also served as the regional vice president of the Central Region of the Beta Kappa Chi honor society, and was the organization's editor-in-chief of the Beta Kappa Chi Bulletin from 1962.[22] In 1966, Beta Kappa Chi honored King with the society's Distinguished Service Award.[22] King was also a member of the American Chemical Society, the West Virginia Academy of Science, and the American Association of University Professors.[22] In 1972, King was elected to the executive board of the West Virginia Coalition for Clean Air.[31] In addition, King was a member-at-large of the World Missions Chairmen's Association of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, an ecumenical mission and relations chairperson of the Guyandotte Presbyterian Church, and an elder of the Dunbar Presbyterian Church.[22]

King was a charting member of the Alpha Omicron Omega chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, which was formally organized in October 1929 at Institute and chartered on November 7, 1929.[32] This chapter was established as a graduate chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha in the Charleston-Institute area.[32] King served as president of the Alpha Omicron Omega chapter from 1935 to 1937.[32] She was honored by Alpha Kappa Alpha with a sorority citation in 1968.[22]

References
  1. Brown 2012, p. 27.
  2. Warren 1999, p. 149.
  3. "Birth Record Detail: Angie Lena Turner". West Virginia Archives and History, West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History. 2019. Archived from the original on August 4, 2020. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
  4. Collins, Sibrina (March 13, 2012). "Angie Lena Turner King (1905–2004)". BlackPast.org. Archived from the original on August 4, 2020. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
  5. Brown 2012, p. 28.
  6. Brown 2012, pp. 27–28.
  7. "Death Record Detail: William Turner". West Virginia Archives and History, West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History. 2019. Archived from the original on August 4, 2020. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
  8. West Virginia Collegiate Institute 1927, p. 4 of the PDF.
  9. Ferguson 1932, p. 26.
  10. Turner 1931
  11. "Play at Institute". Charleston Daily Mail. Charleston, West Virginia. March 13, 1935. p. 14. Archived from the original on August 4, 2020. Retrieved August 4, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. "West Virginia State A.K.A.'s Sponsor Baby Clinic". Pittsburgh Courier. Pittsburgh. May 13, 1939. p. 2. Archived from the original on August 4, 2020. Retrieved August 4, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. Carper 1940, pp. 36–37.
  14. Keefer 1994, pp. 119–132.
  15. Brown 2012, pp. 28–29.
  16. Brown 2012, p. 29.
  17. "Ph. D. Degree To Mrs. King". Pittsburgh Courier. Pittsburgh. February 12, 1955. p. 5. Archived from the original on August 4, 2020. Retrieved August 4, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. "Teacher At State Gets High Degree". Charleston Daily Mail. Charleston, West Virginia. February 25, 1955. p. 13. Archived from the original on August 4, 2020. Retrieved August 4, 2020 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
  19. King 1955
  20. Houston 2019, p. 325.
  21. Warren 1999, p. 141.
  22. "Dr. Angie King Will Speak At NACW Sectional Luncheon". Charleston Daily Mail. Charleston, West Virginia. November 28, 1969. p. 18. Archived from the original on August 4, 2020. Retrieved August 4, 2020 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
  23. "Chapter In Greenbrier Marks 25th Anniversary". Beckley Post-Herald. Beckley, West Virginia. May 13, 1974. p. 9. Archived from the original on August 5, 2020. Retrieved August 5, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. "April 9th Conference Includes Top Feminist". Beckley Post-Herald. Beckley, West Virginia. March 21, 1975. p. 5. Archived from the original on August 5, 2020. Retrieved August 5, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. "International Women's Year Program Begins Here Friday". Charleston Daily Mail. Charleston, West Virginia. October 20, 1975. p. 5. Archived from the original on August 5, 2020. Retrieved August 5, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. Warren 1999, p. 150.
  27. West Virginia State College 1998, p. 17 of the PDF.
  28. "Marriage Record Detail: Robert Elmer King and Angie Lena Turner". West Virginia Archives and History, West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History. 2019. Archived from the original on August 4, 2020. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
  29. Danky & Hady 1998, p. 622.
  30. "Alumna/Alumnus of the Year". West Virginia State University. 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 5, 2020. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
  31. Nelson, Barbara (May 7, 1972). "Montgomery Hospital Gets $24,000 Grant". Sunday Gazette-Mail. Charleston, West Virginia. p. 4D. Archived from the original on August 4, 2020. Retrieved August 4, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  32. "The History of Alpha Omicron Omega..." Alpha Omicron Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. 2020. Archived from the original on August 5, 2020. Retrieved August 5, 2020.

Bibliography
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