Eugene A. Turner was born in Wake Forest, North Carolina. He had completed a Bachelor's Degree, Master's Degree, and Law Degree at Wake Forest College by 1906. After a year of teaching at a preparatory school, Turner became Y.M.C.A. Secretary at the Georgia School of Technology. In 1913 Turner went to China under the Y.M.C.A. and worked with students in the city of Hangchow. According to a biographical sketch, Turner "built up a Y.M.C.A. which, in a short time, enlisted the support of government officials and the literati. He also helped to train an efficient staff of Chinese to whom he relinquished the executive work, remaining as an advisor. He organized, coached and conducted the first inter-scholastic football league ever attempted in Hangchow. Other activities were pioneered: debates, oratorical contests, essay contests, etc. He organized Bible study groups among the students." After a furlough, Turner returned to China in 1928 and was sent to Wuchang and served as Y.M.C.A. General Secretary. He later served in Nanchang, home of the New Life Movement and had personal contact with General and Madame Chiang Kai-shek. Turner was a leader in the Christian Rehabilitation Center in Kiangsi Province, which was involved in the rehabilitation of districts previously held by Communist forces. Turner was married to Mary Effie Lee Turner and was the father of Frank Turner and Eugene Alfred Turner, Jr., who was also involved in Y.M.C.A. work.
From the guide to the Eugene A. Turner Papers, 1824-1948, 1913-1948, (Yale Divinity School Library)
