J. Milton Turner School

J. Milton Turner School, originally Meacham Park School, is a historic former school building in the Meacham Park neighborhood of Kirkwood, Missouri outside St. Louis. It served African American students during segregation and was named for James Milton Turner.[1]

Not to be confused with Turner School in Rockford, Illinois or Meacham Elementary School in Tampa, Florida (Florida's Historic Black Public Schools Multiple Property Submission).
J. Milton Turner School
J. Milton Turner School in 2017.
LocationKirkwood, St. Louis
Coordinates38°33′52″N 90°24′9.56″W
Governing bodyPrivate
J. Milton Turner School is located in Missouri
J. Milton Turner School
Location of J. Milton Turner School in Missouri
J. Milton Turner School is located in the United States
J. Milton Turner School
J. Milton Turner School (the United States)

History

The school was opened in 1925 with an enrollment of 230 students.[2] It is a two-story U-shaped brick building.[3] The original wooden building of the school was demolished after two brick buildings were constructed, the first in 1937 (north section) and the second in 1948 (U-shaped south front of the building), establishing the school current exterior form.[4] Both parts of the school were designed by Bonsack & Pearce.[3] It was closed in the 1976 - 1977 school year[4] in response to a federally mandated push to address racial isolation in the Kirkwood School District.[2] More recently, the school has been advertised as the Turner Office Lots.[5] On June 12, 2021, the Kirkwood School District announced that it intends to purchase the building for use as its Administrative Services Center (to house the offices of the district's administrators) and subsequently continue to rent the rest of the building to existing tenants. The move will increase the district's presence in the Meacham Park neighborhood and allow the district's current Administrative Services Center on the campus of North Kirkwood Middle School to be replaced with eight classrooms for students.[6]

The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[3]

The other school for African Americans in the area, Booker T. Washington, was closed in 1950 and demolished.[3] It has been converted into an office building.[4]

In media

A photograph of the school was included in a report on educational discrimination in St. Louis.[7] KETC aired a segment on the school as part of its Living St. Louis Series. The St. Louis Business Journal reported in 2006 that the building underwent $20 million in renovations.[8]

See also

References
  1. McMunn, Andrew (2018-03-21). "Black history is deeply rooted in formation of Meacham Park in Kirkwood". websterjournal.com. Retrieved 2021-01-06.
  2. School Desegregation in Kirkwood, Missouri: A Staff Report of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1977.
  3. https://dnr.mo.gov/shpo/nps-nr/02000905.pdf National Register of Historic Places nomination form
  4. "J. Milton Turner School - Kirkwood, Missouri - Former Schools on Waymarking.com". www.waymarking.com.
  5. "Turner Office Lofts". Third Man Development.
  6. Wilkinson, Melissa (2021-07-19). "Kirkwood School District: District to Purchase Turner Building for Services Center Use". Timesnewspapers.com. Retrieved 2021-08-15.
  7. "Citizen Brown: J. Milton Turner School, Meacham Park". Citizen Brown: Race, Democracy, and Inequality in the St. Louis Suburbs.
  8. Jones, Anna (2006-01-29). "Meacham Park undergoes $20 million in improvements". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2021-01-06.
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