Johnson County will dedicate Dr. Lulu (LOO-luh) Merle Johnson Plaza during a ceremony tomorrow (Saturday) morning in Iowa City. Johnson was the first black woman in Iowa to earn a P-h-D, which she received from the University of Iowa. The service will include unveiling a statue of Johnson, plus plaques that tell stories of black history in Iowa. Johnson’s great niece Sonya Jackson says she’s been trying for decades to bring Johnson more recognition.
Five years ago, Johnson County leaders decided to name the county after Lulu Johnson, instead of former Vice President Richard Johnson who had no connection to the area. That Johnson was V-P under Martin Van Buren from 1837 to 1841. Iowa became a state in 1846. The project’s historian Rebecca Conard (CON-nerd) hopes the new plaza’s statue and plaques will offer the public plenty of information about Lulu Johnson.
Johnson was a historian whose course called “The Negro in American Life” helped catapult the Black Studies discipline in academia. Conard and Jackson discussed the project on the Iowa Public Radio program “Talk of Iowa.” The ceremony will take place near the county administrative building.
