William Arthur and Alberta T. Turner Papers

William Arthur Turner was born in Trafalgar, Indiana on June 4th 1916, to Delver Oscar (1887-1959) and Bernice Mae Van Arsdale Turner (1894-1959). He was raised in a Baptist tradition, and the teachings of the church colored his character and personal writings. Delver Oscar Turner was a veterinary doctor as well as a farmer and businessman. William Arthur Turner received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Franklin College, Indiana in 1940, and a Doctor of Philosophy in English from Ohio State University in 1946. As an undergraduate W.A. Turner was active in oratory and received a number of awards for public speaking. He demonstrated leadership abilities by serving as senior class president in 1940, as president of Pi Kappa Delta (forensic) in 1938, and as the elected president of the honorary group, Blue Key, at Franklin College in 1939-40. In addition, he received a special distinction degree from Pi Kappa Delta in 1940.

W.A. Turner first taught as a special lecturer at Franklin University (Columbus). Subsequently, while completing his degree, he served as an instructor at Ohio State University from 1944-1947. He accepted the position of Instructor of English at Oberlin College in 1947, advanced to Assistant Professor in 1951, and was promoted to Associate Professor in 1959. Turner specialized in the teaching of rhetoric, Biblical Literature, Chaucer, and Milton, conducting courses such as “Chaucer and the Middle Ages,” “Elizabethan Poetry,” and “Elizabethan Prose.” He was a strong believer in the promotion of excellence in English skills, and taught courses on “English Prose Style” and a “Teachers’ Training Course.” W.A. Turner retired from Oberlin College in 1981.

W.A. Turner was active in a number of professional associations. Included among those are the Modern Language Association, the College English Association, the National Council of Teachers of English, the Ohio College English Association (for which he was vice-president in 1957-58, and president in 1958-59), and the Milton Society of America (for which he was director in 1956 and 1957). He regularly served on the Teacher Education Committee and on the Graduate Study Committee at Oberlin College.

W.A. Turner’s publications include: The Odyssey Handbook and Guide to Writing (1954), Methods of English Prose  (1956), the entry on John Milton (1608-1674) in The Cambride Bibliography of English Literature (1957), co-editor with Alberta T. Turner of Milton’s private correspondence for The Complete Prose Works of John Milton (v. I, II, IV, VII, 1953-1980), and Pathways to the Light Within: A Gathering of Early Quaker Poems (1980). In addition, he published numerous scholarly articles as well as personal narratives dealing with his contraction of Polio, at age 14, and its affect on his later professional life. An unfinished work, “The Cabin,” relates the story of his early life on an Indiana farm and the influence of his father on his growth and development.

On April 9th, 1943, W.A. Turner married Alberta Tucker (1919-2021). The couple had two children, a daughter Prudence (b. 1948), and a son Arthur "Brent" (b. 1951). Alberta was a part-time lecturer at Oberlin beginning in 1947, but starting in 1964 she taught at Cleveland State University because of Oberlin College’s “nepotism rule” and to avoid conflict with W.A. Turner’s career at Oberlin. A widely honored poet, Alberta was director of the Cleveland Poetry Center at Cleveland State University from 1964 until her retirement as a professor there in 1990. In 1969 she became a founding editor of the literary magazine Field, published by Oberlin College, and she remained an associate editor until 2000. Alberta T. Turner died at her home in Oberlin after a long illness on May 21, 2003. The majority of her papers are held at Cleveland State University.

W.A. Turner was a staunch supporter of excellence in English Language and Literature, as is demonstrated by his published works and the courses he taught. He remained active professionally despite limitations engendered by his early affliction with Polio and was well liked by his peers and colleagues. He was on medical leave from Oberlin College from 1976 until his retirement in 1981. He died on September 25, 1984, in Oberlin.

Sources Consulted

Faculty File of William Arthur Turner, (RNG 32). Directory of American Scholars: A Biographical Directory, v.II, English, Speech and Drama, 5th ed. (1969).

Finding aid for the Alberta T. Turner Collection, Cleveland State University Special Collections at http://rave.ohiolink.edu/archives/ead/OCIU0006.

Note written by Kamille T.H. Parkinson.