Editor’s Note: As Lexington celebrates the 250th anniversary of its founding, the Herald-Leader and kentucky.com each day throughout 2025 will share interesting facts about our hometown. Compiled by Liz Carey, all are notable moments in the city’s history — some funny, some sad, others heartbreaking or celebratory, and some just downright strange.
In 1948, Lyman Johnson stood up to the University of Kentucky, ending racial segregation in higher education across the state.
Johnson was a lifelong advocate of education and learning. Born in Columbia, Tennessee, in 1906, he earned his bachelor’s degree from Virginia Union University and his master’s degree from the University of Michigan. He went on to become a teacher, following in the footsteps of his father and uncle, two men he described as “master teachers.”…