Beauty Turner

☆ Save On Wikipedia ↗
Beauty Turner
Born
Beauty B. Turner

January 23, 1957
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
DiedDecember 18, 2008(2008-12-18) (aged 51)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Occupations
Known forActivism on behalf of public housing residents in Chicago
Ghetto Bus Tours

Beauty B. Turner (October 23, 1957 – December 18, 2008) was an American housing activist and journalist from Chicago, Illinois. At the time of her death, Turner was compared to the civil rights leader Ida B. Wells.[1][2]

Biography

Career

Turner was well known for her GHETTO (Greatest History Ever Told To Our People) Bus Tours,[3][4][5] which toured different Chicago Housing Authority complexes to spotlight the experience of residents.[6] Turner was associate editor of Chicago (South) Street Journal and Residents' Journal, as well as a columnist for the Hyde Park Herald, the Lakefront Outlook and a number of other local newspapers.[7][8] For sixteen years, Turner was a resident of the Robert Taylor Homes, one of the US's best known public housing projects.[9] Towards the end of her career, Turner worked as a research assistant for Professor Sudhir Venkatesh, a sociologist at Columbia University. Her writings have appeared on the front page of The Wall Street Journal.[9][8]

Awards and honors

Turner won a number of awards through her career as a journalist, which include:

  • First New America Award by the National Society of Professional Journalists
  • Winner of a Studs Terkel
  • Peter Lisagor
  • Associated Press award
  • Chicago Association for Black Journalist award
  • Courageous voice award for her community activism
  • Black Pearl award
  • Woman of the Century award
  • Shero award from the Empowerment Zone Committee[9][8]

Personal life and death

Turner had three children (two sons and a daughter); Larry Turner (born 1975), Landon (born 1980) and LaTanya Turner (Taylor) (born in 1977). Turner's grandson is Reezy Turner.[10]

Turner died on December 18, 2008, at the age of 51.[11][12] She developed an aneurysm, fell into a coma, and never recovered. She died at Rush University Medical Center.[10]

References

  1. Olkon, Sara (December 19, 2008). "Beauty Turner, 51: Chicago public housing activist and reporter". Chicago Tribune.
  2. Rhodes, Steve (December 19, 2008). "'Writer, Fighter' Beauty Turner Dies". NBC Chicago.
  3. NPR (2007-07-11). "Taking a Ghetto Bus Tour". NPR. Retrieved 2026-03-24.
  4. Ly, Phuong (2008-03-09). "'I Want You to See What I See'". ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2026-03-25.
  5. "'Ghetto Bus Tour' glorifies Chicago's projects". NBC News. 2007-07-22. Retrieved 2026-03-25.
  6. "Who is Ms. Beauty Turner?". National Public Housing Museum. Retrieved 24 March 2026.
  7. "Who is Ms. Beauty Turner?". National Public Housing Museum. Retrieved 2026-03-24.
  8. "'Writer, Fighter' Beauty Turner Dies". NBC Chicago. 19 December 2008. Retrieved 2026-03-24.
  9. "Beauty's Ghetto Bus Tours". Beautys Ghetto Bus Tours. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
  10. "Beauty Turner, 51: Chicago public housing activist and reporter". Chicago Tribune. 19 December 2008. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
  11. rtmadmincd (2008-12-23). "Community activist, journalist Beauty Turner dies". Chicago Defender. Retrieved 2026-03-24.
  12. "Chicago Activist, Journalist Beauty Turner Dies at 51". Democracy Now!. Retrieved 2026-03-24.