Finding aid to the Lorenzo Dow Turner papers
Collection Summary
Collection Title: Lorenzo Dow Turner papers 1915-1973
Call number/identifier: 23
Origination: Lorenzo Dow Turner
Extent: 52 boxes, 2 oversize folders, 1 flat storage box
Physical location: Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies
Languages: All materials are in English
Repository: Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies , Evanston, IL
Abstract: Professor of English and lecturer in African Cultures at Roosevelt University College in Chicago.
Subjects
Turner, Lorenzo Dow
Turner, Lorenzo Dow--Correspondence
African languages--Study and teaching--United States
Sea Islands Creole dialect
Linguistics--Research--United States
Field recordings--Sea Islands
Field recordings--Africa
The original sound recordings may be found at the Archives of Traditional Music, Indiana University, Bloomington.
Administrative Information
Provenance
The Lorenzo Dow Turner Papers were donated to the Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies on May 10, 1984, by Professor Turner's widow, Mrs. Lois T. Williams.
Processor
Thomas J. Dorst, August, 1984.
Restrictions
None.
Abstract: Professor of English and lecturer in African Cultures at Roosevelt University College in Chicago.
Biography
Lorenzo Dow Turner was born in Elizabeth City, N.C. in 1895. He earned his B.A. in 1914 from Howard University; in 1917, he received an M.A. in English from Harvard University. He received his doctorate in English from the University of Chicago in 1926 while simultaneously serving as chairman and professor of the Department of English at Howard from 1917 to 1928. He held the same positions at Fisk University in Nashville from 1929 to 1946. In 1946 he accepted a professorship in the English department at Roosevelt University in Chicago, where he remained as professor of English and lecturer in African Cultures until his retirement in 1970. Turner was professor emeritus at Roosevelt until his death at age 77 in 1972.
Turner's professional and academic interests encompassed both English and linguistics. A noted scholar of African languages and linguistics, he learned numerous West African languages, mastering five of them. He was a noted authority on Gullah, a South Carolina islander's language. His most significant research went into his Africanisms in the Gullah Dialect (University of Chicago Press, 1949). For this he traced thousands of words found in Gullah and in other dialects of the Southeast to their African origins. His field work for this study took him to the Sea Islands off the coasts of South Carolina and Georgia (1932-33), to Brazil (1940-41), London (1936-37), Paris (1937), and British and French West Africa (1951).
Turner's professional publications include:
Anti-slavery sentiment in American language prior to 1865 (1929) Africanisms in the Gullah dialect (1949) The Krio language of the Sierra Leone (1963)Scope and Content note
The Lorenzo Dow Turner Papers, spanning the years 1915-1973, comprise in excess of twenty-six cubic feet of material. The Papers are arranged in nine subseries: biographical material, correspondence, notes from Turner's student career, research files, index cards (3 x 5), publications, and sound recordings. The Papers document Turner's extensive educational training, his long teaching career first at Fisk University and then at Roosevelt University, his exhaustive linguistic research, and the revolutionary theories on black speech development in America that he pioneered. Of special interest are cassette tapes including copies of the original sound recordings made by Turner.
The nearly seven hundred audio discs and over one hundred twenty-five tape and wire recordings originally included in the Lorenzo Dow Turner papers were deposited in the Archives of Traditional Music at Indiana University, Bloomington in 1986. Many of the recordings are accompanied by a more detailed inventory than is provided with this finding aid. The vast majority of the sound recordings were made by Turner in the course of his research into the origins and development of the dialect known as Gullah that is spoken by the black population of the Georgia Sea Island. It was Turner's discovery that this dialect was not the result of the original slaves' attempt to understand and speak English but rather an evolutionary combination of various African languages. Cassette tape copies of the original recordings are stored with the rest of the papers at the Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies.
The biographical material fills approximately one and one-half boxes and includes diaries, clippings, program and lecture announcements, and several photographs. Turner compiled a fairly complete record of announcements of his public appearances, participation in professional meetings and non-professional community activities. In addition to the material in the first two boxes of the series, the flat storage container and the oversize folders contain clippings, certificates and other related materials, including copies of a newspaper for the black community that Turner edited in Baltimore in the 1920s.
The correspondence comprises seven and one-half boxes and spans the period 1923-1973. The bulk of the correspondence is professional and routine in nature. However, Turner used his correspondence to elaborate and defend his theories of black speech development in America. The correspondence also documents the career of a black academic from the 1920s to the 1960s. Turner took some pains to retain material highlighting his achievements as a professor and department chairman at Fisk and Roosevelt. The correspondence is arranged chronologically.
The student files cover Turner's undergraduate career at Howard University and various graduate and post-graduate studies at Harvard, the University of Chicago, and various European universities. Turner's teaching files and the student papers and reports document his career as a professor of English and a specialist in linguistics. The files pertain chiefly to his two principle appointments at Fisk University and Roosevelt University. Some of the files refer to specific courses but much of the material is general information, topically arranged, from which Turner could develop his lectures. Of some interest are the files pertaining to Turner's involvement in the development of early Peace Corps programs in Africa. He also served as the Peace Corps faculty coordinator at Roosevelt. Also included are materials concerning various visiting professorships held by Turner. Two boxes of student papers are arranged chronologically and three boxes are arranged alphabetically by author. Both undergraduate and graduate papers are included. The remaining twenty-six boxes and the bulk of the audio recordings pertain to Turner's research and publications.
The Papers reflect Turner's intense and comprehensive exploration of the culture and languages of several African tribes; including the Krio, Twi, and Yoruba. In addition, he studied the evolution of blacks taken to South America and placed in a culture considerably different from that of North America. The Papers also include the bulk of Turner's research on Gullah. This includes extensive field interviewing. In addition, the Papers document Turner's wide-ranging comparative analysis between the physical patterns of speech of the Sea Island residents and those of their African antecedents. The research files, publication, index cards and audio recordings should be consulted as a body.
Container List
Biographical Material
Colleagues, n.d. [ Box 1 Folder 1 ] Diaries, notebooks, address books, n.d. [ Box 1 Folder 2 ] Diaries, notebooks, address books, n.d. [ Box 1 Folder 3 ] Newspaper/magazine clippings, n.d. [ Box 1 Folder 4 ] Photographs, n.d. [ Box 1 Folder 5 ] Speaking engagements; programs, n.d. [ Box 1 Folder 6 ] Speaking engagements; programs, n.d. [ Box 1 Folder 7 ] Speaking engagements; programs, n.d. [ Box 1 Folder 8 ] Turner mentioned in pamphlets, announcements, etc., n.d. [ Box 1 Folder 9 ] Turner mentioned in pamphlets, announcements, etc., n.d. [ Box 2 Folder 1 ] Turner mentioned in pamphlets, announcements, etc., n.d. [ Box 2 Folder 2 ] Miscellaneous, n.d. [ Box 2 Folder 3 ] Miscellaneous, n.d. [ Box 2 Folder 4 ] Miscellaneous, n.d. [ Box 2 Folder 5 ] Miscellaneous, n.d. [ Box 2 Folder 6 ]
Correspondence
Correspondence 1923-1932 [ Box 2 Folder 7 ] Correspondence 1933-2/35 [ Box 2 Folder 8 ] Correspondence 3/35-12/35 [ Box 3 Folder 1 ] Correspondence 1/36-6/36 [ Box 3 Folder 2 ] Correspondence 7/36-6/37 [ Box 3 Folder 3 ] Correspondence 7/37-4/38 [ Box 3 Folder 4 ] Correspondence 5/38-9/39 [ Box 3 Folder 5 ] Correspondence 10/39-4/39 [ Box 3 Folder 6 ] Correspondence 5/39-8/40 [ Box 3 Folder 7 ] Correspondence 9/40-11/41 [ Box 3 Folder 8 ] Correspondence 12/41-6/43 [ Box 4 Folder 1 ] Correspondence 7/43-3/45 [ Box 4 Folder 2 ] Correspondence 4/45-12/45 [ Box 4 Folder 3 ] Correspondence 1946 [ Box 4 Folder 4 ] Correspondence 1947 [ Box 4 Folder 5 ] Correspondence 1948 [ Box 4 Folder 6 ] Correspondence 1/49-3/49 [ Box 4 Folder 7 ] Correspondence 4/49-8/49 [ Box 4 Folder 8 ] Correspondence 9/49-11/49 [ Box 5 Folder 1 ] Correspondence 12/49-4/50 [ Box 5 Folder 2 ] Correspondence 5/50-8/50 [ Box 5 Folder 3 ] Correspondence 9/50-12/50 [ Box 5 Folder 4 ] Correspondence 1/51-6/51 [ Box 5 Folder 5 ] Correspondence 7/51-10/51 [ Box 5 Folder 6 ] Correspondence 11/51-5/52 [ Box 5 Folder 7 ] Correspondence 6/52-12/52 [ Box 5 Folder 8 ] Correspondence 1/53-5/53 [ Box 5 Folder 9 ] Correspondence 6/53-3/54 [ Box 6 Folder 1 ] Correspondence 4/54-12/54 [ Box 6 Folder 2 ] Correspondence 1955 [ Box 6 Folder 3 ] Correspondence 1/56-3/56 [ Box 6 Folder 4 ] Correspondence 4/56-9/56 [ Box 6 Folder 5 ] Correspondence 10/56-12/56 [ Box 6 Folder 6 ] Correspondence 1/57-4/57 [ Box 6 Folder 7 ] Correspondence 5/57-12/57 [ Box 6 Folder 8 ] Correspondence 1/58-2/59 [ Box 6 Folder 9 ] Correspondence 3/59-12/59 [ Box 7 Folder 1 ] Correspondence 1/60-6/60 [ Box 7 Folder 2 ] Correspondence 7/60-4/61 [ Box 7 Folder 3 ] Correspondence 5/61-9/61 [ Box 7 Folder 4 ] Correspondence 10/61-2/62 [ Box 7 Folder 5 ] Correspondence 3/62-7/62 [ Box 7 Folder 6 ] Correspondence 8/62-12/62 [ Box 7 Folder 7 ] Correspondence 1/63-8/63 [ Box 7 Folder 8 ] Correspondence 9/63-12/63 [ Box 7 Folder 9 ] Correspondence 1964 [ Box 7 Folder 10 ] Correspondence 1/65-3/65 [ Box 8 Folder 1 ] Correspondence 4/65-12/65 [ Box 8 Folder 2 ] Correspondence 1966 [ Box 8 Folder 3 ] Correspondence 1/67-11/67 [ Box 8 Folder 4 ] Correspondence 12/67-1/69 [ Box 8 Folder 5 ] Correspondence 2/69-3/70 [ Box 8 Folder 6 ] Correspondence 4/70-12/73 [ Box 8 Folder 7 ] Correspondence, n.d. [ Box 9 Folder 1 ] Correspondence, n.d. [ Box 9 Folder 2 ] Correspondence, n.d. [ Box 9 Folder 3 ] Correspondence, n.d. [ Box 9 Folder 4 ] Correspondence, n.d. [ Box 9 Folder 5 ] Correspondence, n.d. [ Box 9 Folder 6 ] Correspondence, n.d. [ Box 9 Folder 7 ] Correspondence, n.d. [ Box 9 Folder 8 ]
Turner's Student Notes
English 87, A and B 1920 [ Box 9 Folder 9 ] Harvard notebooks 1915-17 [ Box 9 Folder 10 ] Harvard notebooks 1915-17 [ Box 10 Folder 1 ] Harvard notebooks 1915-17 [ Box 10 Folder 2 ] History 1930 [ Box 10 Folder 3 ] Howard University notebooks 1914 [ Box 10 Folder 4 ] Howard University notebooks 1914 [ Box 10 Folder 5 ] Various literature course notes, n.d. [ Box 10 Folder 6 ] Literature course notes, n.d. [ Box 10 Folder 7 ] Literature course notes, n.d. [ Box 11 Folder 1 ] Literature course notes, n.d. [ Box 11 Folder 2 ] Literature course notes, n.d. [ Box 11 Folder 3 ] Literature course notes, n.d. [ Box 11 Folder 4 ] Literature course notes, n.d. [ Box 11 Folder 5 ] Miscellaneous, n.d. [ Box 11 Folder 6 ] Miscellaneous, n.d. [ Box 11 Folder 7 ]
Teaching
Class Notes African Linguistics-Swahili, n.d. [ Box 12 Folder 1 ] African Linguistics-Yoruba, n.d. [ Box 12 Folder 2 ] Culture Studies 240, n.d. [ Box 12 Folder 3 ] Culture Studies 340, n.d. [ Box 12 Folder 4 ] Culture Studies 341, n.d. [ Box 12 Folder 5 ] English/Literature: Alphabetical American Drama, n.d. [ Box 12 Folder 6 ] American Literature 1608-1860 (English 251), n.d. [ Box 12 Folder 7 ] American Literature 1608-1860 (English 251), n.d. [ Box 12 Folder 8 ] American Literature 1608-1860 (English 251), n.d. [ Box 12 Folder 9 ] American Literature 1608-1860 (English 251), n.d. [ Box 12 Folder 10 ] American Literature 1860-1900 (English 252), n.d. [ Box 13 Folder 1 ] American Literature-Emerson to 1890; Since 1890 (English 106), n.d. [ Box 13 Folder 2 ] American Literature (English 205), n.d. [ Box 13 Folder 3 ] American Literature (English 260), n.d. [ Box 13 Folder 4 ] Canterbury Tales (English 351), n.d. [ Box 13 Folder 5 ] Chaucer (English 367), n.d. [ Box 13 Folder 6 ] Chaucer, n.d. [ Box 13 Folder 7 ] Early English Literature (English 151), n.d. [ Box 13 Folder 8 ] History of the English Language (English 261), n.d. [ Box 13 Folder 9 ] Journalism (English 115), n.d. [ Box 13 Folder 10 ] Journalism (English 115), n.d. [ Box 13 Folder 11 ] Language in America-English (English 367 and 257), n.d. [ Box 14 Folder 1 ] Literature III and IV 1918-19 [ Box 14 Folder 2 ] Letter Writing; Methods of English Literature History, n.d. [ Box 14 Folder 3 ] Major American Poets (English 205), n.d. [ Box 14 Folder 4 ] Negro in American Literature, n.d. [ Box 14 Folder 5 ] Negro Writers, n.d. [ Box 14 Folder 6 ] The Novel I (English 271), n.d. [ Box 14 Folder 7 ] The Novel I (English 271), n.d. [ Box 14 Folder 8 ] The Novel II, n.d. [ Box 14 Folder 9 ] The Novel II, n.d. [ Box 14 Folder 10 ] Nineteenth Century Poetry (English 281), n.d. [ Box 15 Folder 1 ] Phonetics (English 185), n.d. [ Box 15 Folder 2 ] Poetry 1832-1900 (English 48A), n.d. [ Box 15 Folder 3 ] Seminar in American Literature-Emerson (English 455), n.d. [ Box 15 Folder 4 ] Shakespeare (English 248), n.d. [ Box 15 Folder 5 ] Shakespeare, n.d. [ Box 15 Folder 6 ] Shakespeare, n.d. [ Box 15 Folder 7 ] Short Story, n.d. [ Box 15 Folder 8 ] Studies in American English (English 367), n.d. [ Box 15 Folder 9 ] Studies in English Grammar (English 365), n.d. [ Box 15 Folder 10 ] Studies in English Language (English 461), n.d. [ Box 15 Folder 11 ] English/Literature: Course Number English I 1921 [ Box 15 Folder 12 ] English II 192? [ Box 16 Folder 1 ] English 6 1921, 1927 [ Box 16 Folder 2 ] English 8 1921-27 [ Box 16 Folder 3 ] English 19, n.d. [ Box 16 Folder 4 ] English 28 1922 [ Box 16 Folder 5 ] English 30 and 31 1920 [ Box 16 Folder 6 ] English 39, n.d. [ Box 16 Folder 7 ] English 39, n.d. [ Box 16 Folder 8 ] English 39, n.d. [ Box 16 Folder 9 ] English 101 and 102-Fisk and Roosevelt, n.d. [ Box 16 Folder 10 ] English 112 1931 [ Box 16 Folder 11 ] English 127 1927 [ Box 16 Folder 12 ] English 131 1927 [ Box 17 Folder 1 ] English 135 1930-33 [ Box 17 Folder 2 ] English 139 1928 [ Box 17 Folder 3 ] English 143 1934 [ Box 17 Folder 4 ] English 149 1929 [ Box 17 Folder 5 ] English 154 1931, 1934 [ Box 17 Folder 6 ] English 201 (early), n.d. [ Box 17 Folder 7 ] English 201 (Roosevelt), n.d. [ Box 17 Folder 8 ] English 212-213 1936 [ Box 17 Folder 9 ] English 235 1942 [ Box 17 Folder 10 ] English 260, n.d. [ Box 17 Folder 11 ] English 262 1943 [ Box 17 Folder 12 ] English 271, n.d. [ Box 17 Folder 13 ] English 301 1938 [ Box 17 Folder 14 ] English 334, n.d. [ Box 17 Folder 15 ] English 351 1926 [ Box 17 Folder 16 ] English 380 1934, 1940 [ Box 17 Folder 17 ] English-Miscellaneous, n.d. [ Box 17 Folder 18 ] Miscellaneous, n.d. [ Box 17 Folder 19 ] Miscellaneous, n.d. [ Box 17 Folder 20 ] Miscellaneous, n.d. [ Box 17 Folder 21 ] Miscellaneous, n.d. [ Box 17 Folder 22 ] Miscellaneous, n.d. [ Box 17 Folder 23 ] Miscellaneous, n.d. [ Box 17 Folder 24 ] History 226, 227, 228, n.d. [ Box 18 Folder 1 ] Political and Cultural Emergence of Sub-Saharan Africa 1963 [ Box 18 Folder 2 ] Miscellaneous Teaching Atlanta University Summer School, n.d. [ Box 18 Folder 3 ] English curriculum of various universities, n.d. [ Box 18 Folder 4 ] Fisk-interdepartmental curriculum in African Studies, n.d. [ Box 18 Folder 5 ] Radio and television appearances, n.d. [ Box 18 Folder 6 ] Roosevelt contracts, n.d. [ Box 18 Folder 7 ] Sierre Leone Peace Corps training project, n.d. [ Box 18 Folder 8 ] Peace Corps training project, n.d. [ Box 18 Folder 9 ] Peace Corps training project, n.d. [ Box 19 Folder 1 ] Peace Corps training project, n.d. [ Box 19 Folder 2 ] Peace Corps training project, n.d. [ Box 19 Folder 3 ] Peace Corps training project, n.d. [ Box 19 Folder 4 ] Peace Corps training project, n.d. [ Box 19 Folder 5 ] Speech project, n.d. [ Box 19 Folder 6 ] Speech project [ Box 19 Folder 7 ] Suggested reading lists, n.d. [ Box 19 Folder 8 ] Test-literature, n.d. [ Box 19 Folder 9 ] University of Illinois English 374, n.d. [ Box 19 Folder 10 ] YMCA courses, n.d. [ Box 19 Folder 11 ]
Papers and Reports: By Students and Others
Chronological Papers and reports 1914-1939 [ Box 20 Folder 1 ] Papers and reports 1939-1942 [ Box 20 Folder 2 ] Papers on race relations submitted to E. W. Smith 1943 [ Box 20 Folder 3 ] Papers on race relations submitted to E. W. Smith 1943 [ Box 20 Folder 4 ] Papers and reports 1944-1949 [ Box 20 Folder 5 ] Papers and reports 1949-1953 [ Box 20 Folder 6 ] Student papers: Culture Studies 241 1953 [ Box 20 Folder 7 ] Papers and reports 1956 [ Box 20 Folder 8 ] Papers and reports 1957 [ Box 20 Folder 9 ] Papers and reports 1958-59 [ Box 21 Folder 1 ] Papers and reports 1960-61 [ Box 21 Folder 2 ] Papers and reports 1962-63 [ Box 21 Folder 3 ] Papers and reports 1964 [ Box 21 Folder 4 ] Papers and reports 1964-65 [ Box 21 Folder 5 ] Comparative word list 1965 [ Box 21 Folder 6 ] Papers and reports 1965-68 [ Box 21 Folder 7 ] Papers, reports, exams 1968-69 [ Box 21 Folder 8 ] Papers and reports 1969-71 [ Box 21 Folder 9 ] Alphabetical by author Papers and reports A-B, n.d. [ Box 22 Folder 1 ] Papers and reports B-C, n.d. [ Box 22 Folder 2 ] Papers and reports C, n.d. [ Box 22 Folder 3 ] Papers and reports D, n.d. [ Box 22 Folder 4 ] Papers and reports E, n.d. [ Box 22 Folder 5 ] Papers and reports E-G, n.d. [ Box 22 Folder 6 ] Papers and reports G-H, n.d. [ Box 22 Folder 7 ] Papers and reports J-M, n.d. [ Box 22 Folder 8 ] Papers and reports M, n.d. [ Box 22 Folder 9 ] Papers and reports M, n.d. [ Box 23 Folder 1 ] Papers and reports M-O, n.d. [ Box 23 Folder 2 ] Papers and reports O-S, n.d. [ Box 23 Folder 3 ] Papers and reports S, n.d. [ Box 23 Folder 4 ] Papers and reports T-V, n.d. [ Box 23 Folder 5 ] Papers and reports V-W, n.d. [ Box 23 Folder 6 ] Papers and reports W-Z, n.d. [ Box 23 Folder 7 ] Graduate Theses Graduate theses B 1933-41 [ Box 24 Folder 1 ] Graduate theses B 1933-41 [ Box 24 Folder 2 ] Graduate theses E-H 1933-41 [ Box 24 Folder 3 ] Graduate theses T 1933-41 [ Box 24 Folder 4 ] Graduate theses W 1933-41 [ Box 24 Folder 5 ] Graduate theses W 1933-41 [ Box 24 Folder 6 ] Graduate theses W 1933-41 [ Box 24 Folder 7 ] Miscellaneous Papers Author unknown, n.d. [ Box 25 Folder 1 ] Author unknown, n.d. [ Box 25 Folder 2 ] Author unknown, n.d. [ Box 25 Folder 3 ] Copy of Herskovits' Linguistic notes from Suriname folklore, n.d. [ Box 25 Folder 4 ] Essay Contests 1923-24 [ Box 25 Folder 5 ] Thesis Proposals, n.d. [ Box 25 Folder 6 ] Unidentified [ Box 25 Folder 7 ]
Research
Africa Assorted African Folktales, n.d. [ Box 25 Folder 8 ] Assorted African Folktales, n.d. [ Box 25 Folder 9 ] Assorted African Folktales, n.d. [ Box 25 Folder 10 ] Assorted African Folktales, n.d. [ Box 26 Folder 1 ] Assorted African Folktales, n.d. [ Box 26 Folder 2 ] Assorted African Folktales, n.d. [ Box 26 Folder 3 ] Assorted African Folktales, n.d. [ Box 26 Folder 4 ] Assorted African Folktales, n.d. [ Box 26 Folder 5 ] Assorted African Folktales, n.d. [ Box 26 Folder 6 ] Creole proverbs, riddles, stories, n.d. [ Box 26 Folder 7 ] Creole book (Cameroon), n.d. [ Box 26 Folder 8 ] Freetown Creole, n.d. [ Box 27 Folder 1 ] Folktales of Africa-MS, n.d. [ Box 27 Folder 2 ] Folktales of Africa-MS, n.d. [ Box 27 Folder 3 ] Temne, Mende languages-grammatical notes, n.d. [ Box 27 Folder 4 ] Unidentified plays and conversations, n.d. [ Box 27 Folder 5 ] West African Folktales, n.d. [ Box 27 Folder 6 ] West African Folktales, n.d. [ Box 27 Folder 7 ] West African Languages, n.d. [ Box 27 Folder 8 ] Miscellaneous, n.d. [ Box 28 Folder 1 ] Miscellaneous, n.d. [ Box 28 Folder 2 ] Gullah Africanisms in the Gullah Dialect-section I, footnotes, n.d. [ Box 28 Folder 3 ] Africanisms in the Gullah Dialect-section I, footnotes, n.d. [ Box 28 Folder 4 ] Africanisms in the Gullah Dialect-section II, n.d. [ Box 28 Folder 5 ] Africanisms in the Gullah Dialect-section II, n.d. [ Box 28 Folder 6 ] Africanisms in the Gullah Dialect-section II, n.d. [ Box 28 Folder 7 ] African Names Surviving in Coastal Georgia and South Carolina, n.d. [ Box 28 Folder 8 ] African Names Surviving in Coastal Georgia and South Carolina, n.d. [ Box 28 Folder 9 ] African Names Surviving in Coastal Georgia and South Carolina, n.d. [ Box 29 Folder 1 ]