Top Brass Polishing Other People's Brass: Evaluating Aspects of the Marred Legacy of an African American College President

Introduction "We must not allow other people's limited perceptions to define us. " ~ Virginia Satir In 1952, Benner Creswill Turner submitted an update of his whereabouts for inclusion in Harvard College's twenty-fifth anniversary class report. By then, Turner was serving as the fourth president of South Carolina State College (now South Carolina State University), a historically Black land-grant institution organized in 1896 in Orangeburg, South Carolina. South Carolina State College (SCSC) was originally named the Colored, Normal, Industrial, Agricultural, and Mechanical College of South Carolina. Since its beginning, the school was organized and controlled by a state legislature that sought to preserve racial segregation in the state after Reconstruction was toppled. The politics of racial segregation and White supremacy forced Turner and his predecessors into administering the school in a way that complied with an all-White Board of Trustees and the state legislature. The compliance of the school presidents could be easily misunderstood as being an accomodationist (or worse, "Uncle Tom"). This article follows Turner's 1950s through 1960s term specifically. But it also details, in comparison, the strategies of similar presidents prior to the 1970s. What did it take, in the time period of 1896 to 1967, to keep a college running and controlled, despite difficult events? Which college presidents were more constrained in how they brought law and order to the schools? How did Turner's methods compare to others between 1896 and 1967? Evaluating the Top-Brass: Dissecting the Top Four Issues Turner might have been seen as the top brass, but to get things done, he still had to strategize his dealings with the governor, the Board of Trustees, and the legislature. This article will show him walking on a tightrope during the 1950s and 1960s when it came to administering a historically Black college (HBCU) during the era of racial segregation and the Civil Rights movement. He was not unlike many other administrators from the 1890s to 1970s who tried to run their HBCUs through a gauntlet of restrictions. This article will show how Turner viewed himself as a college president at a predominately Black college, his philosophy of education, his silent activism, and his racial identity in relationship to colorism in the Black community and position on racial segregation. Perception of Self The primary issue examined in this article is Turner's self-perception. As the article will show that, above all else, Turner first viewed himself as a college president. In that respect, he was a servant to the people of the state of South Carolina. As a president of state-supported institution, he realized that he was in a complicated situation. He had to comply with a pro-segregationist Board of Trustees and state legislature. At the same time, he had to provide the best educational opportunities for his students. To understand how he governed the school, there are three more important issues to examine: his educational philosophy, his view on activism, and how he perceived his racial identity. Philosophy of Education In wake of legal challenges to school segregation in the United States, Turner tactfully (in the interests of his students) chose to use the issue of racial segregation to his benefit, to maintain state funding for SCSC. This was his strategy to keep SCSC open and funded. This paper will show that it was his primary goal to keep the school at its best in order to teach students effectively. His philosophy of education can be seen as being based in an "academic work ethic. " An explanation of this viewpoint is that a combination of academic excellence and the accumulation of life skills would benefit a student after college. Sideline Activist Similar to many of his contemporaries, Turner understood the racial politics of the South during the 1950s and 1960s. …