Historic trailblazers—Part III

Abstract

Angie Turner King Angie Turner King was born in 1905, a time when few women—let alone Black women—were scientists, and fewer still earned PhDs. She grew up in McDowell County, part of West Virginia’s coal country. Her grandparents were once enslaved and her father, though uneducated himself, encouraged her to pursue education. Throughout her long career as an educator, she ensured that many others followed her father’s advice. King graduated high school at 14, then earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and mathematics at West Virginia Collegiate Institute (now West Virginia State University). King taught chemistry and mathematics at the Teacher Training High School while working on her master’s degree at Cornell University, earning her degree in mathematics and chemistry in 1931. She then taught high school chemistry for several years before joining the faculty at West Virginia State. There she set about refurbishing the college’s lab to ensure students