On June 24, 2021, Johnson County, Iowa did something counties rarely do. Originally named for the ninth Vice President of the United States, Richard M. Johnson (1837-1841), the Johnson County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to change our county’s eponym (namesake), placing Lulu Merle Johnson (1907-1995) into that lofty position. Johnson was a BA and MA graduate of The University of Iowa (1930), the second African-American woman in the U.S. to earn a Ph.D. in History, and the first to receive a Doctorate of any kind in Iowa!, Lulu was born into a successful farm family in 1907 in the small southwestern Iowa town of Gravity, where the Johnsons were the only black family in town, yet highly respected. Lulu’s father, Richard, was a freed slave who rented out his land – which had been in the family since 1882 – while working as a barber in his own shop in town. After her years at Iowa, Lulu went on to become an esteemed educator while researching the lives of African Americans, teaching at Florida A&M and West Virginia State College, before joining the faculty of Cheyney State College in Pennsylvania as a history professor and dean of women in 1952. Throughout her lifetime, Lulu was an activist against segregationist policies. In the 1940’s, for example, she joined with a group of SUI alumni, leading a campaign to desegregate our university’s residence halls, which finally happened in 1946.
CHECK OUT THE COMPLETE BLOG SERIES – Iowa City’s Top 50 Influencers – Part II
Back in 1979 – The Iowa City Press Citizen ran a special seven-page section called Chronology 1841/1979 and it featured Iowa City’s famed historian – Irving Weber – and his look at 25 People Who Left Their Stamp On Iowa City. So, here we are – forty-four years later – and now, I’m offering these two posts – dedicated to those who have greatly influenced our city over the first 100 years or so. This page features the First 25, and as you can see, each of the 25 names has a brief overview with a link(s) to read more, if you like. Enjoy!
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