Interview with Austin P. Lilly, April 3, 1990

Interview Summary

University of Kentucky alumna Austin Lilly was born in Richmond, Kentucky in 1896. She provides some family history, recalling that her grandfather, Colonel H.C. Lilly was involved in the Civil War. Her father, Grant E. Lilly, received his law degree from the University of Michigan in 1888. Shortly after her parents were married, they moved to Richmond where her father began to practice law. Lilly's mother was active in the suffrage movement and the League of Women Voters, and she recalls attending a suffrage meeting with her mother in Chicago. After graduating from the Madison Institute for Young Ladies in Richmond in 1914, a friend named Kathleen Sullivan convinced Lilly to attend UK. Lilly enrolled in the University of Kentucky in 1915 and soon joined a sorority. She recalls prominent professors at UK including Mary Sweeney, who convinced Lilly to major in Home Economics. She describes social activities on campus, and mentions Anna Jackson Hamilton, the Dean of Women at the time. Lilly was involved in many activities while she attended UK. She was a member of the YWCA and the PanHellenic Council, she was president of the Home Ec Club, and she was editor of the Rural Kentuckian, which was published through the Home Ec School. In addition, she was on the staff of the Kentucky Kernel, and was named class poet. Lilly lived in Patterson Hall, the women's dormitory, during her sophomore year. She recalls that President Barker and his wife also lived in Patterson Hall. Lilly talks about the President Frank McVey, Frances Jewell McVey and Maxwell Place. Lilly remembers taking an education class with Cotton Noe, who would throw chalk at inattentive students, and provides her impressions of Sarah Blanding, who would later become Dean of Women. Lilly graduated in 1919 and then pursued a Master's degree in Chemistry, which she received in 1921. She recalls that Dr. Tuttle was the head of the Chemistry Department. Lilly became a teacher in Georgetown, Kentucky in 1921. She later taught at Lexington Junior High School. She talks about women's rights, and states that marriage just never seemed to interest her. Lilly describes representing Kentucky in Cuba before the Communist Revolution.

Interview Keyword

College environment College presidents College students--Conduct of life. College students--Social conditions Richmond (Ky.) Sex discrimination in higher education. Sexism in higher education Student housing Teachers--Kentucky Universities and colleges--Administration. Universities and colleges--Faculty. Women in higher education. Women--Education (Higher)

Interview LC Subject

Lilly, Austin P., (Austin Page), 1896-1991 Lilly, Austin P., (Austin Page), 1896-1991--Interviews University of Kentucky University of Kentucky--History Women political activists Women's rights Women--Suffrage

Interview Rights

All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred to the University of Kentucky Libraries.

Interview Usage

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