Darwin Turner arrived at the University of Iowa in 1972 to join the faculty of the newly established Afro-American studies program. Soon after, he became chair when Charles Davis accepted a position at Yale.

For the next 19 years, Turner developed a program that pioneered this emerging field of academic study. Iowa was among the first institutions in the nation to offer advanced degrees in Afro-American studies, providing intellectuals of Black culture the opportunity to teach and conduct research at colleges and universities across the U.S. and abroad [...]