From NKAA, Notable Kentucky African Americans Database (main entry)
African American Undergraduates at University of Kentucky
This entry was added to the NKAA Database in response to the frequent reference requests for the names of the first African American undergraduates to enroll at the University of Kentucky (UK). Most of the enrollments came about with the passing of the 1954 Supreme Court Decision, Brown v. Board of Education, which declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional. African American graduate and professional students had been admitted to UK in 1949, and five years later, 20 or so undergraduate students enrolled. Listed below are the undergraduate names that are known at this time. Also listed below are the names of undergraduates who enrolled immediately before or right after 1954 and graduated.
*For more information on the first African American graduates from the University of Kentucky see They Came Before: the legacy of African American pioneers and trailblazers at the University of Kentucky by the UK Alumni Association.
| NAME | HOMETOWN/SCHOOL | MAJOR | GRADUATION DATE | LIBRARY SOURCES |
| Beatty, Josephine Jackson | Lexington - Dunbar Channing | Undeclared (transfer) | None | The Integration of the First African-American Undergraduates at the University of Kentucky (dissertation) by Sharon Barrow Childs, p.138 |
| Cannon, Frank Jr. | Nicholasville - Rosenwald-Dunbar | Electrical Engineering | None | The Integration of the First African-American Undergraduates at the University of Kentucky (dissertation) by Sharon Barrow Childs, p.138 |
| Cruse, Jacqueline | Lexington - Dunbar | Music Education (transfer) | None | The Integration of the First African-American Undergraduates at the University of Kentucky (dissertation) by Sharon Barrow Childs, p.138 |
| Fields, Holloway Jr. | Lexington | Engineering | 1951 | Fifty Years of the University of Kentucky African-American Legacy 1949-1999, p.49 |
| Gillis, John William | Lexington - Douglass | Agriculture | None | "Integration achieved without incident at University of Kentucky," Lexington Leader, 10/13/1954 / The Integration of the First African-American Undergraduates at the University of Kentucky (dissertation) by Sharon Barrow Childs, p.138 |
| Jones, LaBernice | Lexington | Physical Education | 1957 | UK 90th Annual Commencement Exercises 1957 Program, p.20 / The 1957 Kentuckian, p.181 |
| Jones, William Jr. | Sociology | 1958 | Fifty Years of the University of Kentucky African-American Legacy 1949-1999, p.49 / UK College of A&S website | |
| LaRue, Janice Napier | Lexington - Dunbar | Elementary Education | None | The Integration of the First African-American Undergraduates at the University of Kentucky (dissertation) by Sharon Barrow Childs, p.138 |
| Lymon, Luminta Locke | Lexington - Dunbar | Music | None | The Integration of the First African-American Undergraduates at the University of Kentucky (dissertation) by Sharon Barrow Childs, p.138 |
| Lyons, Joseph B. Jr. | Lexington | Engineering | 1958 | Fifty Years of the University of Kentucky African-American Legacy 1949-1999, p.49 / The 1958 Kentuckian, p.80 |
| Mack, Dorothy Mitchell | Lexington | Social Work | 1957 | Fifty Years of the University of Kentucky African-American Legacy 1949-1999, p.49 {last name given as Mitchell} / UK 90th Annual Commencement Exercises 1957 Program, p.7 / The 1957 Kentuckian, p.187 |
| Million, Ruth Cruse | Lexington - Dunbar | Commerce/Business | None | The Integration of the First African-American Undergraduates at the University of Kentucky (dissertation) by Sharon Barrow Childs, p.138 |
| Newby, Sarah Clark | Lexington - Dunbar | Elementary Education | 1958 | The Integration of the First African-American Undergraduates at the University of Kentucky (dissertation) by Sharon Barrow Childs, p.138 / Fifty Years of the University of Kentucky African-American Legacy 1949-1999, p.49 / The 1958 Kentuckian, p.59 {last name given as Clark} |
| Ross, Lucius Tom | Lexington - Dunbar | Medical Technology | None | "Integration achieved without incident at University of Kentucky," Lexington Leader, 10/13/1954 / The Integration of the First African-American Undergraduates at the University of Kentucky (dissertation) by Sharon Barrow Childs, p.138 |
| Schultz, William R. | Louisville | Pharmacy | 1954 | Email message from the UK College of Pharmacy confirming enrollment and graduation. Transfer work from U of L and Indiana University. Photo images in the 1953 & 1954 Kentuckian yearbooks. |
| Simpson, Clay E. Jr. | Owensboro | Arts & Sciences | 1958 | Fifty Years of the University of Kentucky African-American Legacy 1949-1999, p.49 |
| Stewart, James Cecil | Lexington - Douglass | Agriculture (transfer) | "Integration achieved without incident at University of Kentucky," Lexington Leader, 10/13/1954 | |
| Strider (Abel), Maureen Barbara | Lexington - Dunbar | Pre-medicine | None | "Integration achieved without incident at University of Kentucky," Lexington Leader, 10/13/1954 {last name given as Abel} / The Integration of the First African-American Undergraduates at the University of Kentucky (dissertation) by Sharon Barrow Childs, p.138 |
| Walker, Anna Brown | Lexington - Dunbar | Elementary Education | None | The Integration of the First African-American Undergraduates at the University of Kentucky (dissertation) by Sharon Barrow Childs, p.138 |
| Wallace, Samuel III "Bud" | Lexington - Douglass | Electrical Engineering | None | "Integration achieved without incident at University of Kentucky," Lexington Leader, 10/13/1954 / The Integration of the First African-American Undergraduates at the University of Kentucky (dissertation) by Sharon Barrow Childs, p.138 |
| Wilkinson, Doris Y. | Lexington | Social Work w/English minor | 1958 | The Fascinating Story of Black Kentuckians by A. A. Dunnigan / "African American contributions to Kentucky history and the desegregation of the University of Kentucky" in Integration File 2 of 3 /Fifty Years of the University of Kentucky African-American Legacy 1949-1999, p.49 |