Joseph Carter Corbin is a 2018 Inductee Into the Ohio Civil Rights Hall of Fame

Joseph Carter Corbin, former principal of Branch Normal College (now the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff), is one of the 2018 inductees into the Ohio Civil Rights Hall of Fame.

The son of former Virginia slaves, Dr. Corbin was born in Chillicothe, Ohio, in 1833. He was the third African American to attend Ohio University and the second to complete a bachelor’s degree. After graduation, he served two terms as an elected trustee of the Cincinnati Colored School Board and was editor and co-publisher of the Colored Citizen Newspaper of Cincinnati for six years.

During Reconstruction following the Civil War, Dr. Corbin moved to Arkansas to work in higher education. He was elected State Superintendent of Public Education and served as president of the Board of Trustees of the Arkansas Industrial University (now known as the University of Arkansas Fayetteville).

Dr. Corbin opened Branch Normal College on September 27, 1875 and served as its principal for 27 years. Under his leadership, Branch Normal College graduated the first college-educated African American in the State of Arkansas. Dr. Corbin died on January 9, 1911 in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.

The Ohio Civil Rights Hall of Fame was created in 2009 and seeks to acknowledge outstanding Ohioans who are recognized as pioneers in human and civil rights and who have advanced the goals of equality and inclusion. Alumna and nominator Dr. Gladys Turner Finney, an alumna of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, will accept the honor on Dr. Corbin’s behalf.

Related Articles

1 COMMENT

Leave a Reply

Get the JBHE Weekly Bulletin

Receive our weekly email newsletter delivered to your inbox

Latest News

Higher Education Gifts or Grants of Interest to African Americans

Here is this week’s news of grants or gifts to historically Black colleges and universities or for programs of particular interest to African Americans in higher education.

New Online Library for the Study of Philanthropy and Black Churches

The new Philanthropy and the Black Church digital collection of the Lake Institute on Faith and Giving, an organization founded by the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University, and the Center for the Church and the Black Experience at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, aims to provide resources for Black churches and other philanthropic institutions to partner together on strategic initiatives.

Online Articles That May Be of Interest to JBHE Readers

Each week, JBHE will provide links to online articles that may be of interest to our readers. Here are this week’s selections.

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Establishes New Research Center to Address Segregation in Local Area

The new Center for Equity Practice and Planning Justice at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee aims to study the history of racial segregation in the local area and advance racially equitable practices in urban planning.

Featured Jobs