Lulu Merle Johnson (September 14, 1907 – October 19, 1995) was an American historian and university administrator. She was the second

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

woman to earn a PhD in history in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, and the first to do so in the state of

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

. P. G. Dagbovie has described Johnson as being part of the "first distinguishable coterie of formally trained black women historians" in the U.S. She became the namesake of Johnson County, Iowa, in September 2020.

Life and career

Lulu Merle Johnson was born in 1907 on a farm near the small town of

Gravity In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the stro ...

in southwestern Iowa; the land had been purchased by her grandfather in 1882. She moved to eastern Iowa in her late teens, and graduated from Clinton High School in 1925. She earned a BA from the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 col ...

, before going on to receive an MA in History in 1930 for a thesis entitled, "The Negro in Canada, Slave and Free." Once she had earned her MA, Johnson taught history and politics at

Talladega College Talladega College is a private historically black college in Talladega, Alabama. It is Alabama's oldest private historically black college and offers 17 degree programs. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. His ...

(1930–31) and at

Tougaloo College Tougaloo College is a private historically black college in the Tougaloo area of Jackson, Mississippi. It is affiliated with the United Church of Christ and Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). It was originally established in 1869 by New Yor ...

(1931–40). Johnson worked intermittently at the University of Iowa throughout the 1930s on a PhD in history; she also undertook some graduate study at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

. She was supervised by Winfred T. Root, chair of the department, and by Harrison John Thornton. In 1941, Johnson successfully defended her doctoral dissertation, "The Problem of Slavery in the Old Northwest, 1787–1858." In doing so, she became the first African-American woman to receive a PhD from the University of Iowa, and the second African-American woman in the United States to earn a doctorate in history after

Marion Thompson Wright Marion Thompson Wright (September 12, 1902 – October 26, 1962) was an African-American scholar and activist. In 1940, Wright became the first African-American woman in the United States to earn her Ph.D. in history. Early life Marion Manola ...

. While at the University of Iowa, Johnson received funding from the

General Education Board The General Education Board was a private organization which was used primarily to support higher education and medical schools in the United States, and to help rural white and black schools in the South, as well as modernize farming practices ...

of the Rockefeller Foundation to support her doctoral research. Johnson faced discrimination during her time at the University of Iowa, including being forced to take a swimming class as a requirement of her doctorate, even though she was enrolled in the history PhD program, and was not allowed to use the university swimming pool at the same time as whites. Johnson went on to teach history at

historically black colleges Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community. ...

such as

Florida A&M University Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), commonly known as Florida A&M, is a public historically black land-grant university in Tallahassee, Florida. Founded in 1887, It is the third largest historically black university in the Un ...

, and

West Virginia State College West Virginia State University (WVSU) is a public historically black, land-grant university in Institute, West Virginia. Founded in 1891 as the West Virginia Colored Institute, it is one of the original 19 land-grant colleges and universities ...

, before she joined the faculty of

Cheyney University of Pennsylvania Cheyney University of Pennsylvania is a public historically black university in Cheyney, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1837, it is the oldest university out of all historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the United States. It is a m ...

in 1952. There she served as a professor of history and also as dean of women students. A longtime member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, Johnson retired in 1971 to the seaside community of

Millsboro, Delaware Millsboro is a town in Sussex County, Delaware, United States. Millsboro is part of the Salisbury metropolitan area. History Millsboro's earliest European settlers were of English family origin; though most were second generation colonists who ...

. She died there in 1995.

Bibliography

*"The Negro in Canada, slave and free". MA Thesis, University of Iowa. 1930. *"The problem of slavery in the Old Northwest, 1787–1858". PhD Dissertation, University of Iowa. 1941. *Review of ''Lay My Burden Down: A Folk History of Slavery'', in ''The Mississippi Valley Historical Review''. Vol. 32, No. 4 (March 1946), p. 609 *''The Negro in American Life'', n.d.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Lulu Merle 1907 births 1995 deaths University of Iowa alumni Academics from Iowa African-American academics People from Taylor County, Iowa People from Millsboro, Delaware 20th-century African-American people