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| Lorenzo J. Greene President, 1965-1966 |
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Founders of Black History Month
Dr. Lorenzo Johnston Greene served
as President of the Association for
the Study of African American Life
and History from 1965-1966. This
achievement culminated his life-long
dedication to the study and
promotion of African American
history.
Greene’s involvement with the
Association actually arose from an
earlier relationship with Carter G.
Woodson when Greene began work
as President of the Association for
the Study of African American Life
and History from 1965-1966. This
achievement culminated his life-long
dedication to the study and
promotion of African American
history.
Greene’s involvement with the
Association actually arose from an
earlier relationship with Carter G.
Woodson when Greene began work
| Lincoln University Collection, Inman E. Page Library, Jefferson City, MO |
| By Carmen Beck |
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on the survey of New England African American churches and later The Negro
Wage Earner. In June 1930, the pair began a campaign to sell Woodson’s
Associated Publishers books. This expedition led to Greene and four other young
men traveling through the South and Midwest selling books and collecting
invaluable information on the anthropological history of African Americans.
Greene’s reminisces of this journey were published postmortem in Selling Black
History for Carter G. Woodson (1996).
Greene’s association with Woodson continued throughout his career and led to
his involvement with the fight to improve housing, children’s services and civil
rights on a national level. He worked on national committees under three U.S.
Presidents, Hoover, Eisenhower and Johnson, as well as many local committees.
In 1939, Greene led an effort with Lincoln University of Missouri students to aid
victims of the Sharecropper Strike in Southeast Missouri. He worked to end
segregation in public accommodations through the Missouri Association for
Social Welfare and helped to establish the Missouri Human Rights Commission
in the 1950s. In addition to numerous articles on these subjects, Greene wrote
Desegregation of Missouri Schools, 1954-1959 (1959, 1961).
During this time, Green’s dedication to the scholarship of African American
history did not waiver. In the fall of 1933, Greene joined the faculty at Lincoln
University in Jefferson City, Missouri and remained until 1972. While there, he
was a proliferate writer of African American history articles and labored to edit
the Midwest Journal, a supplement to the Journal of Negro History, from 1947 to
its end in 1956. And then in 1980, Greene coauthored Missouri’s Black Heritage
with Dr. Antonio Holland and Dr. Gary Kremer. He became a noted lecturer and
visiting professor at Tennessee A & I University, Southern Illinois University
and the University of Kansas. Greene officially retired from Lincoln University
in 1972 and was awarded the Professor Emeritus status. He remained heavily
involved with the University and even assisted the staff with an oral history
project in 1975.
Born on November 16, 1899 in Ansonia, Connecticut, Greene became the first
African American to graduate Ansonia High School in 1917. In 1924 he was
graduated cum laude with a Bachelor’s of Arts from Howard University. In 1926
he received a Master’s of Arts in History and in 1942 received a Ph.D. in History,
both from Columbia University in New York City. Finally, in 1974, the
University of Missouri-Columbia awarded him an honorary doctor of letters
degree. While attending Columbia University in the 1940s, Greene rekindled
his friendship with Thomasina Talley. They married on December 19, 1941 and
returned to Jefferson City, Missouri in 1942. In 1952, Lorenzo Thomas Greene,
their only son, was born. Dr. Lorenzo J. Greene died on January 24, 1988.
Dr. Greene’s love for scholarship and the African American heritage left a legacy
and impression upon many around him including, Dr. Gary Kremer, Dr. Antonio
Holland, Gus Ridgel, Arvarh E. Strickland and Elizabeth Briscoe-Wilson.
The following publications were listed in Dr. Greene’s curriculum vitae. He also
penned numerous articles for publications such as Journal of Negro History,
Phylon, Wilberforce Quarterly (Ohio), Journal of Negro Education, The Midwest
Journal, The Negro History Bulletin, Social Science Abstract, Newsweek, and the
Kansas City Star.
• The Negro Wage Earner, co-authored with Carter G. Woodson, 1930.
• Negro Employment in the District of Columbia, co-authored with Myra
Colson Callis, 1932.
• Negro Housing, co-authored with Charles S. Johnson et. al., 1933.
• The Negro in Colonial America, 1620-1776, 1942.
• “Desegregation of Public Schools in Missouri 1954-1959”, 1959.
• “Desegregation of Schools in Missouri”
• “Battle of Fort Pillow” found in Battles of the Civil War, 1962.
• Introduction to Reprint of Daniels found in In Freedoms Birthplace, 1968.
• “The Negro in Missouri”, co-authored with Antonio Holland and Gary
Kremer, 1974-1975.
(c) 2006
Wage Earner. In June 1930, the pair began a campaign to sell Woodson’s
Associated Publishers books. This expedition led to Greene and four other young
men traveling through the South and Midwest selling books and collecting
invaluable information on the anthropological history of African Americans.
Greene’s reminisces of this journey were published postmortem in Selling Black
History for Carter G. Woodson (1996).
Greene’s association with Woodson continued throughout his career and led to
his involvement with the fight to improve housing, children’s services and civil
rights on a national level. He worked on national committees under three U.S.
Presidents, Hoover, Eisenhower and Johnson, as well as many local committees.
In 1939, Greene led an effort with Lincoln University of Missouri students to aid
victims of the Sharecropper Strike in Southeast Missouri. He worked to end
segregation in public accommodations through the Missouri Association for
Social Welfare and helped to establish the Missouri Human Rights Commission
in the 1950s. In addition to numerous articles on these subjects, Greene wrote
Desegregation of Missouri Schools, 1954-1959 (1959, 1961).
During this time, Green’s dedication to the scholarship of African American
history did not waiver. In the fall of 1933, Greene joined the faculty at Lincoln
University in Jefferson City, Missouri and remained until 1972. While there, he
was a proliferate writer of African American history articles and labored to edit
the Midwest Journal, a supplement to the Journal of Negro History, from 1947 to
its end in 1956. And then in 1980, Greene coauthored Missouri’s Black Heritage
with Dr. Antonio Holland and Dr. Gary Kremer. He became a noted lecturer and
visiting professor at Tennessee A & I University, Southern Illinois University
and the University of Kansas. Greene officially retired from Lincoln University
in 1972 and was awarded the Professor Emeritus status. He remained heavily
involved with the University and even assisted the staff with an oral history
project in 1975.
Born on November 16, 1899 in Ansonia, Connecticut, Greene became the first
African American to graduate Ansonia High School in 1917. In 1924 he was
graduated cum laude with a Bachelor’s of Arts from Howard University. In 1926
he received a Master’s of Arts in History and in 1942 received a Ph.D. in History,
both from Columbia University in New York City. Finally, in 1974, the
University of Missouri-Columbia awarded him an honorary doctor of letters
degree. While attending Columbia University in the 1940s, Greene rekindled
his friendship with Thomasina Talley. They married on December 19, 1941 and
returned to Jefferson City, Missouri in 1942. In 1952, Lorenzo Thomas Greene,
their only son, was born. Dr. Lorenzo J. Greene died on January 24, 1988.
Dr. Greene’s love for scholarship and the African American heritage left a legacy
and impression upon many around him including, Dr. Gary Kremer, Dr. Antonio
Holland, Gus Ridgel, Arvarh E. Strickland and Elizabeth Briscoe-Wilson.
The following publications were listed in Dr. Greene’s curriculum vitae. He also
penned numerous articles for publications such as Journal of Negro History,
Phylon, Wilberforce Quarterly (Ohio), Journal of Negro Education, The Midwest
Journal, The Negro History Bulletin, Social Science Abstract, Newsweek, and the
Kansas City Star.
• The Negro Wage Earner, co-authored with Carter G. Woodson, 1930.
• Negro Employment in the District of Columbia, co-authored with Myra
Colson Callis, 1932.
• Negro Housing, co-authored with Charles S. Johnson et. al., 1933.
• The Negro in Colonial America, 1620-1776, 1942.
• “Desegregation of Public Schools in Missouri 1954-1959”, 1959.
• “Desegregation of Schools in Missouri”
• “Battle of Fort Pillow” found in Battles of the Civil War, 1962.
• Introduction to Reprint of Daniels found in In Freedoms Birthplace, 1968.
• “The Negro in Missouri”, co-authored with Antonio Holland and Gary
Kremer, 1974-1975.
(c) 2006
| The ASALH Website and The ASALH Store are projects of the ASALH Publication Committee, Daryl Michael Scott, Chair. Direct comments to info@asalh.net (C) ASALH, June 25, 2007 |