Reverend Lenus Turley ~ Carbondale,
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 37° 43.662 W 089° 14.224
16S E 302854 N 4177959
Community leader, and active civil rights worker. Made such an impact on this city, a park is named after him.
Waymark Code: WM9XHX
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 10/11/2010
Views: 1
Marker Text:
REVEREND LENUS TURLEY
APRIL 27, 1904 -- NOVEMBER 8, 1969
"If I have helped someone along life's way
then my living has not been in vain.
Born in Brookport, Illinois Rev. Turley was a man interested in all facets of life. He always liked to build, loved the positive approach to problems, glorified in encouraging people and was always an inspiration. He was one of those rare persons who exemplified honesty, integrity, energy, determination and true greatness.
Rev. Turley attended grade and high school at Brookport, ILL. He attended Simmon's Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky and graduated from the Illinois Theological Seminary in Chicago with a Bachelor of Divinity in 1942. In 1969 he received the Doctor of Divinity degree from the Union Baptist Bible College and Seminary in Houston, Texas. In Illinois he first pastored the Unity Baptist Church at Brookport, then the Cloverleaf Baptist Church in Joppa, the First Baptist Church in Metropolis, and the Rock Hill Baptist Church in Carbondale. He was secretary of the Mount Olive District and from 1954 was moderator of the District. From 1950 he was First Vice-President of the Illinois National Baptist Missionary and Education Convention, and a member of the Foreign Mission Board of the National Baptist Convention of America. He was president of the Carbondale Ministerial Alliance from 1959 until 1960.
Rev. Turley was active in the following civic and community organizations: First President of the Human Relations Commission of Carbondale, & member of the Carbondale Citizens Advisory Commission, Senior Citizens Committee, Chairman of the Carbondale Police Community Relations Board, Chairman of the Jackson County Housing Project and a member of the Jackson County Mental Health Board. He was the first Black Chaplain of the Illinois State Senate, member of the State Family and Child Welfare Bureau and District Chairman of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
Rev. Turley received the following awards: National Champion of Open Occupancy Award, 1965; A Citation from the Negro Emancipation Centennial Commission; Golden Keys to the City of Mt. Vernon in 1963 at the Mount Olive District Association. He received an award from the City of Carbondale for meritorious service in 1969-An award for being a member of the official board of inquiry- A certificate of achievement from the Chicago Baptist Institute, and an award from the Illinois Sesquicentennial Commission, Springfield, Illinois.
Rev. Turley was a coordinator in the Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C., in 1963 and was a participant in the march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama in 1965. He was a Black Warrior, a drum major for right and justice.
LENUS TURLEY PARK
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