Interview with Lyman T. Johnson, July 12, 1987

Interview Summary

Lyman T. Johnson was born in Columbia, Tennessee in 1906, and was the first African American graduate student to attend the University of Kentucky. He describes the issues and events surrounding the integration of UK in 1949. He states that in the 1940s he and some other young educators who were growing into middle age became involved in civil rights, and they were concerned about integrating the University of Kentucky or the University of Louisville. Johnson explains that they searched for a talented high school student who would be interested, but had difficulty finding someone who was willing to take the risk. By 1948, some members of the committee began to push Johnson to take on the case himself, and Johnson explains why he reluctantly agreed to apply to the University of Kentucky and then sue the university when he was denied admission. Johnson describes the humiliation of segregation, and explains the impossibility of creating a "separate but equal" institution in Kentucky where so little money was allotted for education. He recalls teaching at Kentucky State University, Kentucky's only institution of higher learning for African American students, and states that Kentucky State only received the left-over "crumbs" of funding. Johnson explains that he believes that we need to look for the imperfections in our government and find ways of solving them. He states that he only wants equality, so that each person can obtain all that he or she is able. Johnson talks about the Day Law which enforced separate schools for the races in Kentucky. Yet, he explains that the state constitution mandated separate schools for whites and blacks. He discusses the role Berea College played in the drafting of the Day Law, since they allowed underprivileged people of all races to attend their school. Johnson states that the decision in his lawsuit against the University of Kentucky overturned the Day Law, and he recalls that he was treated very nicely while attending classes on UK's campus during the summer of 1949.

Interview Keyword

University of Louisville. Columbia (Tenn.). Day Law Desegregation Lawsuits African Americans--Economic conditions.

Interview LC Subject

Berea College Johnson, Lyman T., 1906-1997 Johnson, Lyman T., 1906-1997--Interviews Race discrimination University of Kentucky University of Kentucky--History African American college students. African American leadership African Americans--Education (Higher) African Americans--Education. African Americans--Segregation African Americans--Social conditions. Civil rights movements--United States Integration Race relations--Kentucky Racism School integration--Kentucky Segregation in education--Kentucky

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Interview Usage

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