Lula Bogie Turner
Glendale Elementary School's first African American teacher
Lula Bogie Turner
1912 – 2001
Lula Turner was the first African American teacher at Glendale Elementary School.
Born in Kentucky, the 1930 US census locates Lula, then 17, living on Lincoln Avenue in Glendale with her mother Mary, a laundress; stepfather Ivey Collins, a laborer; and younger brother John. Lula attended Eckstein School, an elementary school for African Americans, graduated from Glendale High School, and went on to complete four years of college.
Lula had an outstanding teaching career that spanned 35 years. She taught fifth and sixth grades at Eckstein School beginning in 1938 and continued there 20 years until it was closed by a civil rights lawsuit in 1958. That year Ms. Turner moved to Glendale Elementary School and continued to teach there through the 1972-1973 school year.
She was a member of the Beta Nu Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma, an honorary professional organization for educators and received a certificate of recognition from the Eckstein Alumni Association in 1981.
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