noa_sohpcr_a-0351 a-0351 sohpcr noa yes Oral history interview with Lyman Johnson, July 12, 1990 Johnson, Lyman T., 1906-1997 Egerton, John Tennessee--Race relations African Americans--Civil rights--Kentucky Louisville (Ky.)--Race relations African Americans Columbia (Tenn.)--Race relations Racism--Tennessee--Columbia Civil rights movements--Tennessee--Columbia Racism--Kentucky--Louisville Civil rights movements--Kentucky--Louisville Teachers' unions--Southern States Johnson, Lyman T., 1906-1997 Lyman Johnson's views on civil rights were formed by his father, who rejected racial hierarchies. Johnson started working to achieve racial equality in Columbia, Tennessee, and Louisville, Kentucky, after he returned from naval service following World War II. The interview begins with his description of violence that flared up in Columbia, Tennessee, after a black soldier's attack on a verbally abusive white store owner. Johnson asserts that the racial integration that should have occurred immediately after World War II was delayed as a result of apathy among white southerners, underlining the necessity of outside intervention. Though Louisville was more progressive than other southern cities, its leaders remained reluctant to endorse full equality. That reluctance made life difficult for black and white citizens alike. The Civil Rights Digital Library received support from a National Leadership Grant for Libraries awarded to the University of Georgia by the Institute of Museum and Library Services for the aggregation and enhancement of partner metadata. [Chapel Hill, N.C.] : University Library, UNC-Chapel Hill. Southern Oral History Program University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Documenting the American South (Project) University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library Oral histories of the American South (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Documenting the American South (Project)) 2006 Transcripts Sound recordings Oral histories http://docsouth.unc.edu/sohp/A-0351/menu.html Text (HTML and XML/TEI source file) and audio (MP3); 2 files: ca. 120.6 kilobytes, 115 megabytes. Mode of access: World Wide Web. System requirements: Web browser with Javascript enabled and multimedia player. MP3 format / ca. 115 MB, 01:03:17 Title from menu page (viewed on Dec. 21, 2007). Interview participants: Lyman Johnson, interviewee; John Egerton, interviewer. Duration: 01:03:17. This electronic edition is part of the UNC-CH digital library, Documenting the American South. It is a part of the collection Oral histories of the American South. Text encoded by Mike Millner. Sound recordings digitized by Aaron Smithers. Forms part of Oral histories of the American South collection. 1990-07-12 Louisville (Ky.) Jefferson County (Ky.) Columbia (Tenn.) Maury County (Tenn.) Kentucky Tennessee Southern States 20090729 131016