Friends of Professor Joseph Carter Corbin

08/12/2026

Greetings!

Have you taken the time to get registered for the Professor Joseph Carter Corbin Day celebration on September 27, 2026 @ New St. Hurricane MBC?

https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/ev/reg/un3hhf4/lp/4b886113-f394-4711-a14e-b248cbcd4ecf

The registration page is live...

Join the Arkansas Friends of Professor Joseph Carter Corbin for Professor Joseph Carter Corbin Day & Scholars Reception on Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026, from 2–4 p.m. at New St. Hurricane Missionary Baptist Church. Celebrate the founder of Arkansas's first HBCU and honor his enduring legacy. The Scholar...

05/31/2026

Flowers for Professor Corbin…

Dr. Gladys Turner Finney’s work in sharing the legacy of Professor Joseph Carter Corbin, Ohio-born founder of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, includes nomination to the Ohio Civil Rights Hall of Fame, an Ohio historic marker at Ohio University, an Arkansas historic marker at the original site of the Branch Normal School, and a designation of his gravesite on the US Department of the Interior National Register of Historic Places. Her work is being appreciated by others.

The Showmen's League of America, an organization that supports circus performers and their families, has been around for nearly 120 years. The Showmen’s League has more than 60 performers buried in Woodland Cemetery in Forest Park, IL, and sought advice from Dr. Turner Finney about applying for a historic designation for that site. They are impressed by her work with Corbin and agreed to place flowers at the Corbin gravesite.

Members of the Showmen's League of America, Past President and Cemetery Committee Chairman Donnie Massie and Gregg Bodnar, visited Professor Corbin's gravesite on Friday, May 22, 2026. They took the time to educate themselves about Dr. Corbin and placed flowers.

05/27/2026

Community collaboration in support of education is the way to uplift and enrich individuals...and the community as a whole!! REMEMBER the individuals who laid the foundation for our success. Professor Joseph Carter Corbin 1833-1911

04/18/2026

03/16/2026

Drs. Kimberley Davis and Gladys Turner Finney presented on the History of Professor Joseph Carter Corbin and the founding of the Branch Normal School which was to become the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff 150 years ago!

Join Dr. Gladys Turney Finney in conversation with Dr. Kimberley Davis to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the opening of the Branch Normal College (now ...

03/16/2026

The attached document is a running timeline of the work of Dr. Gladys Turner Finney and others to revive the legacy of Professor Joseph Carter Corbin.

Professor Joseph Carter Corbin died January 11, 1911 in Pine Bluff. He had no death certificate because his death was prior to Arkansas state registration of deaths. He was interred January 14, 1911 at Waldheim Cemetery (now Forest Home Cemetery), the only cemetery in Chicago that did not adhere to racial covenants for burial. There was little written on his life and legacy. He was not on the world wide web.

03/16/2026

02/16/2026

Did you ever wonder why Professor Joseph Carter Corbin went to Arkansas, of all places, after the Civil War? This article from the Central Arkansas Library System may partially explain how Corbin knew about the plight of African Americans in the state of Arkansas before deciding to contribute his considerable talents to help resolve the problem.

There are many questions that remain about the era of reconstruction and the legacy of Professor Joseph Carter Corbin. The Friends of Professor Joseph Carter Corbin posts documentation and clues for researching and unlocking these mysteries. Subscribe and visit regularly.

Happy Black History Month!

Appeal of the Arkansas Exiles to Christians throughout the World - Encyclopedia of Arkansas

The “Appeal of the Arkansas Exiles to Christians throughout the World” was a plea for assistance written by twelve free African Americans expelled from ...

02/16/2026

HAPPY BLACK HISTORY MONTH!!