Dr. Joseph Carter Corbin (1833-1911) was an American educator and newspaper reporter and editor who founded the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. He earned recognition as the “Father of Higher Education for African Americans in Arkansas" for his contributions to African American education during the Reconstruction era. Corbin was born in Chillocothe, Ohio on March 26, 1833. He was only 17 when he enrolled at Ohio University. He received a bachelor's degree in art and returned to earn masters degrees in 1856 and 1889.
Corbin migrated to Little Rock in 1872, was elected as the first African American superintendent of public education in Arkansas, and served in this capacity from 1873 to 1875, during reconstruction of the South. As superintendent he proposed that a college for the poor be established at Pine Bluff. He advocated for teaching classics to the Black students but the political establishment insisted they only receive vocational training. Corbin was forced out as superintendent but continued his career as a high school principal. After retiring, he moved with his wife to the South Side of Chicago. He is buried in Forest Home Cemetery in Forest Park, IL and his gravesite was formally designated by the National Park Service as a National Historic Place on April 17, 2023.
Corbin migrated to Little Rock in 1872, was elected as the first African American superintendent of public education in Arkansas, and served in this capacity from 1873 to 1875, during reconstruction of the South. As superintendent he proposed that a college for the poor be established at Pine Bluff. He advocated for teaching classics to the Black students but the political establishment insisted they only receive vocational training. Corbin was forced out as superintendent but continued his career as a high school principal. After retiring, he moved with his wife to the South Side of Chicago. He is buried in Forest Home Cemetery in Forest Park, IL and his gravesite was formally designated by the National Park Service as a National Historic Place on April 17, 2023.
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Dr. Gladys Turner Finney, who graduated from the U. of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, led the effort to place a suitable marker at Corbin’s grave. The grave marker was celebrated on Memorial Day, 2013, where Mark Rogovin represented the HSFP and Congressman Danny Davis (himself a graduate of Pine Bluff) and Forest Park Mayor Calderone spoke.
John Rice, a reporter for the Forest Park Review, publicized and recorded the above event and, in 2022, he assisted Dr. Turner in applying for the gravesite to be part of the National Register of Historic Places. The gravesite was formally designated as such on April 17, 2023.
John Rice, a reporter for the Forest Park Review, publicized and recorded the above event and, in 2022, he assisted Dr. Turner in applying for the gravesite to be part of the National Register of Historic Places. The gravesite was formally designated as such on April 17, 2023.
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