African American Life in Louisville: UofL/LMC Records

Department of Athletics, 1976
.25 linear feet
This is a position paper written by Dave Hart, Athletic Director, in response to charges made by Louis Coleman of the Urban League that "The University of Louisville Athletic Department is Dragging its Feet in Hiring Blacks." It was presented at a Board of Trustees Meeting on July 19, 1976.

The Black Student Union, 1969-1975
2.25 linear feet
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The Black Student Union was organized at U of L in the 1960s and began pressuring the university to expand course offerings in black history, literature, and culture. The university did not respond to all of the demands of the union and there was the occupation of a university building in May 1969. Records of the Union contain newsletters and clippings, recruiting proposal, fact sheets and press releases concerning the BSU's effort to persuade the university to expand academic course offerings; financial aid and tutorial programs; the confrontation which resulted in the occupation of a university building followed by the arrest of some of the students, expulsion and reinstatement of some.

Louisville Municipal College, 1924-1951
16 linear feet
On February 9, 1931, 83 students enrolled in the new Louisville Municipal College for Negroes (LMC). Functioning as "a separate institution under the administration of the board of trustees of the University of Louisville," it was the only full-fledged black liberal arts college in Kentucky and the only one in the nation supported by city funds. The university complied with the "separate but equal" legal doctrine of segregation, often paying only lip service, at least, to the spirit of the "equal" portion. School officials and black community leaders were determined that the LMC offer a sound four-year undergraduate pre-professional liberal arts program, and in 1936 LMC was accorded full accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. For two decades LMC would remain a segregated undergraduate division of the U of L. Before it closed in 1951, the institution had enrolled 2,649 students, 512 of whom graduated with degrees in a broad array of academic disciplines.

The collection includes negatives and prints of Municipal College students, faculty and deans, as well as the grounds and buildings. Among the records are those from the dean of the college, as well as faculty minutes, annual reports, development files, budget papers, student records, and ephemera documenting the twenty-year existence of this school. Some corresponding material can be found in the files of the president of University of Louisville. Celebrated African American architect Samuel Plato designed the Municipal College's Steward Hall.

Office of Black Affairs, Office of Minority Affairs, and Office of Minority Services, 1969-1985
40 linear feet
General office files of these various offices of the University.

Office of the University Provost - Pan-African Studies Conference Files, 1974-1987
3 linear feet
These records concern the Pan-African Studies Conference that was held at the university in 1979 to 1981. There are also records from the National Black Family Conferences, 1982-1987.