Furman L. Templeton was a campaigner for African American civil rights in Baltimore, Maryland. He served 25 years as the Executive Director of the Baltimore Urban League, 20 years as a member of Selective Service Board 13 in Baltimore, he was the former Vice-chairman of the Baltimore Housing Authority, a member of a Maryland Commission on Interracial Problems and Relations, and he was also a chairman of the Social Education and Action Committee of the Presbytery of Baltimore.
[Baltimore News Post, February 16, 1959]
Early life
Furman L. Templeton (1909–1970) was born in Hackensack, New Jersey.
[Obituary of Furman L. Templeton, Washington Post, February 16, 1970] He earned a bachelor's degree at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania and was awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree by Morgan State College in Baltimore.
Professional life
In his twenty-five year service to the Baltimore Urban League, Furman L. Templeton was awarded and honored with the Good Citizenship of the
Alpha Phi Alpha
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. () is the oldest intercollegiate historically African American fraternity. It was initially a literary and social studies club organized in the 1905–1906 school year at Cornell University but later evolved int ...
fraternity, the Man of the Year Plaque of the
Omega Phi fraternity, the Maryland Negro Achievement Medal, and the Certificate of Merit of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Templeton's first position at the Baltimore Urban League was as the Secretary of Industry in 1941, a position the Baltimore Urban League created to increase the number of African Americans working in profitable lines of employment.
["Templeton Gets Secretarial Post at Urban League," Afro-American; January 4, 1941 Pro-Quest Historical Newspapers Baltimore Afro-American (1893-1988) 24] He was chosen for this position because after he graduated Lincoln University he was the first African American to be appointed an interviewer in the Baltimore office of the state employment service on August 15, 1933 by Oliver C. Short as the white State director.
In his first year as the Secretary of Industry in the Baltimore Urban League, Templeton fought for African American painters of Baltimore rights to Union membership.
["FEC Ponders Union's Bias," Afro-American; September 13, 1941, Pro-Quest Historical Newspapers Baltimore Afro-American (1893-1988) 10] Also that year, Templeton questioned the government purchase of Perryman, Maryland land.
["Templeton Seeks FSA Probe of Perryman, Md., Land Deal," Afro-American; September 13, 1941 Pro-Quest Historical Newspapers Baltimore Afro-American (1893-1988)] This land was going to be used to expand the southwest border of the Aberdeen proving grounds, and was also the home to about 150 families, a third of them were African Americans who were now forced to seek new homes and sell their homes for a quarter of the present purchase price per acre of land, and are buying white homes for more.
Later, when Furman L. Templeton served as the Executive Director for the Baltimore Urban League his focus was on education. He created a program for African Americans to advance their educations as well as provide avenues for job placement.
[Templeton, Furman L., Baltimore Urban League, "Occupational Galaxy: Reach For The Stars…" (Baltimore, MD: Baltimore Urban League, 1940).] Thanks to his efforts in education and involvement in civil rights causes Furman L. Templeton Elementary School, at 1200 Pennsylvania Ave of Baltimore, Maryland is named in his memory.
Death
Upon his death on February 12, 1970, Furman L. Templeton left his wife Irene Roye-Templeton and their two sons at their residence on the 1500 block of McCulloh Street. Because Templeton worked hard to create equality for the African Americans in Baltimore he left a lasting impact, and a small legacy in the school that is now his namesake.
He also left a grandson,
Stefan Templeton R. Stefan Templeton (born July 15, 1967) is the founder of the SPEAR Project (Standing Patrol for Emergency Assessment and Response).
Of American and Norwegian descent, he is the grandson of the civil rights leader Dr. Furman L. Templeton. A ling ...
, b. 1967. A granddaughter Kimberly STempleton, b.1966 and grandson Evan Seth Templeton b . 1968.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Templeton, Furman L
1970 deaths
Year of birth missing
Activists for African-American civil rights
Activists from Baltimore
People from Hackensack, New Jersey