Ohio Civil Rights Hall of Famer Remembered for Leading Education Strides in The South

Article Presented By McDonald’s, I’m Lovin’ It!

(Chillicothe) – The Ross County Historical Society has recalled the remarkable accomplishments of a Chillicothe native who went on to lead groundbreaking civil rights efforts in the nation. March 26th was the birthdate of Ohio Civil Rights Hall of Famer Dr. Joseph Carter Corbin.

Corbin was born in Chillicothe on March 26th of 1833 to two formerly enslaved people, William and Susan Corbin. He was educated in Chillicothe schools and was a classmate of John Mercer Langston.

For a time, he taught school in Kentucky. He attended Ohio University in Athens beginning in 1850 and graduated three years later. He was the third Black man to attend OU and the second to obtain a bachelor’s degree. Corbin spoke and read Greek, Latin, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Hebrew, and Danish.

He returned to Kentucky afterward and became a member of the Underground Railroad.

He was elected a member of the Cincinnati Colored School Board and became the editor and co-publisher of The Colored Citizen Newspaper. After the Civil War, he undertook the dangerous and difficult position of Superintendent of Public Education in Little Rock, Arkansas.

In 1875, he secured funding from the legislature for a Branch Normal College (now the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff) but was forced out after a political dispute called the Brooks–Baxter War. For a time, he served in public schools. A few years later, the governor asked him to return to Pine Bluff as nothing had been done to further the new college. Corbin rectified that.

He served as the college’s president for over a quarter of a century. The college educated teachers and issued the first degrees to Black graduates in Arkansas.

He would continue to work in education for the rest of his career. He is known as the father of higher education for African Americans in Arkansas

At the dedication of his historical marker at Ohio University Chillicothe, Mayor of Chillicothe, Luke Feeney, said, “Mr. Corbin’s accomplishments…would be awe-inspiring today or any other time in history. But given the historical context of his accomplishments, the emotion I felt was pure amazement.”