“I hope you will develop a certain self-reliance, greater dependability, and fellowship with the great human values.
The opportunities for all this are virtually unlimited, except for one factor, and that factor is YOU!
Remember, your initiative, integrity, ambition, and industriousness set the boundaries of your college experience (and your life!).”
-Dr. Lulu Merle Johnson
1963 Cheyney University Student Handbook
On August 1, 1941, Dr. Lulu Merle Johnson became the first African American woman to earn a Ph.D. from the University of Iowa, and the first Black woman in the state of Iowa to earn a doctorate.
Not one Iowa university would hire her to teach. Despite facing systemic discrimination, Dr. Johnson dedicated her career to education, teaching at several historically Black colleges and universities, including Talladega College, Tougaloo College, Florida A & M University, West Virginia State University, and ultimately Cheyney State University in Pennsylvania, where she also served as Dean of Women.
Dr. Lulu Merle Johnson’s legacy stands as an inspiring testament to the power of education, perseverance, and the importance of uncovering and sharing often-silenced histories. She retired in 1971 and died in 1995. On June 24, 2021, the Johnson County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to make her the county’s eponym. Same name on the map, but the right person behind it.