Darwin Theodore Troy Turner (May 7, 1931 – February 11, 1991) was an American literary critic, scholar, poet, and professor who wrote about African-American history.
[3] He came from a family of academics; his father Darwin Romanes Turner was a pharmacist, and his mother Laura Knight was a writer and schoolteacher[4] who graduated from University of Cincinnati at the age of 18.
[5] While studying at University of Cincinnati, Turner was unable to live on campus because the school did not offer housing to African-American students.
[8] After completing a Master's degree in English and American literature in 1949, he married Edna Bonner and began teaching at Clark College, Atlanta.
[3] Turner's contemporary Melba Joyce Boyd described him as a "perfectionist" who felt that he had to be without flaw in his academic and personal life in order to overcome racial prejudice.
[10] In 1972, Turner joined the faculty at University of Iowa's newly created Afro-American studies program,[1] which was being developed by Robert A.
During his tenure he expanded the field of African American studies, creating courses in African-American history and culture.