Lulu Johnson

Lulu Merle Johnson (September 14, 1907 – October 19, 1995) was an American historian and university administrator.

[4][5] Lulu Merle Johnson was born in 1907 on a farm near the small town of Gravity in southwestern Iowa; the land had been purchased by her grandfather in 1882.

She earned a BA from the University of Iowa, before going on to receive an MA in history in 1930 for a thesis entitled, "The Negro in Canada, Slave and Free.

[9] While at the University of Iowa, Johnson received funding from the General Education Board of the Rockefeller Foundation to support her doctoral research.

[10][11] Johnson faced discrimination during her time at the University of Iowa, including being forced to take a swimming class as a requirement of her doctorate, even though she was enrolled in the history PhD program, and was not allowed to use the university swimming pool at the same time as whites.