History

Louisville Municipal College alumni fill the need for qualified teachers

Following the Emancipation in Kentucky (1865) African American educators petitioned for public school; nine years later, the Legislative Act of 1874 established the first system of public color common school in the Commonwealth. In 1935, the Kentucky Negro Education Association (KNEA), the representative body Kentucky’s African American teachers and a lobbying group for educational issues was established.

Many Louisville Municipal College alumni filled the needs for qualified teachers to educate African American children by entering the teaching profession and influencing their lives. These exemplary educators taught African American youth English, Mathematics, Social studies, Art and Latin, etc. in the segregated public school systems.

Constant issue of overcrowding in classrooms, pay inequities between white and Black teachers, unsuitable educational physical plant and increasing demands for additional educational course offerings from the African American community were just some of the obstacles these educators faced as they strived to provide African American children and youth in Louisville an excellent education. Some of those LMC alumni who took on these challenges were: Ms. Mary Elizabeth Black, Katherine L. Cole, Hattie Figg, Edna A. Graves, E. Frisby Lawrence, Marietta P. Mills, Thelma E. Morton, Lavinia W. Neal, Thelma Phillips Samuel, B. Clarice Scott, Leon Leach Wiley, and Alvena E. Woods (The Madison Mirror Annual 1938-39). Also many of these LMC alumni went on to obtain advanced degrees (masters degrees) from institutions of higher education like Indiana University, Columbia University, University of Cincinnati and University of Michigan.

Photos of LMC alumni who became teachers

Click on each image to enlarge.

Katherine L. Cole	Hattie Figg

Edna Graves	Thomas Hines

E. Frisby Lawrence	Marietta Mills

Thelmas Morton	Lavinia Neal

Thelma Samuels	B. Clarice Scott

Leon Wiley	Alvena Woods

Return to top