Interview with Lyman T. Johnson, March 6, 1979

Interview Summary

Lyman Johnson discusses his father and some of his siblings, including their educational and work histories. He discusses the state of education for black Americans in the first half of the twentieth century, describing how many schools for African Americans were of poor quality. He gives his opinion on Booker T. Washington and his attempts at bettering education for African Americans through the Tuskegee Institute. He describes the economic basis of slavery and the post slavery environment of the United States, such that the upper class set a pattern of subordination and competition that was enacted by the lower classes. Unions were used to incite economic competition between poor whites and African Americans. He discusses a few specific instances of lynchings, including ones that occurred in his childhood that still affect him at the time of the interview. Lyman discusses some of his teaching jobs and how African Americans were paid less than white people for the same job and how they were discouraged from jobs in education because it was considered above their station. The interview concludes with a discussion of the women's rights movements that borrowed from the African American civil rights movements, as well as a discussion of the impact of the increasing independence of black women on black men.

Interview Keyword

Booker T. Washington Economic competition Harassment

Interview LC Subject

African Americans--Education. Family histories. Teachers African Americans--Segregation Segregation. Race discrimination. African Americans--Economic conditions. United States--Race relations. Education--Political aspects African Americans--Civil rights Civil rights movements--United States African Americans--Employment.

Interview Rights

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Interview Usage

Interviews may only be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.