Interview with Evelyn Livisay, June 19, 1978

Interview Summary

Evelyn Livisay was a teacher in Lexington, Kentucky during integration. In this interview she discusses the teaching conditions in all-Black schools prior to integration, and says that they had fewer supplies and lower salaries than their white counterparts. She talks about her experiences as one of the few Black teachers chosen to integrate the white schools, and says she was sent to Linlee Elementary School first as a librarian in order to acclimate the faculty and students to the change. She talks about reactions to her being in the school, and talks about how the Board of Education felt about teachers' participation in the civil rights movement.

Interview Keyword

African Americans--Education. African Americans--Social conditions. Discrimination in education. Discrimination in employment. Lexington (Ky.)--Race relations. Racism--Kentucky--Lexington

Interview LC Subject

Livisay, Evelyn Livisay, Evelyn--Interviews School integration--Kentucky--Fayette County Segregation in education--Kentucky Teachers--Kentucky Teaching

Interview Rights

All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred to the University of Kentucky Libraries.

Interview Usage

Interviews may be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, Special Collections, University of Kentucky Libraries.