Interview with Clella Hagans, July 31, 2006

Interview Summary

Dr. Clella Hagans attended the University of Kentucky for medical school after her undergraduate education at Berea College. In this interview she discusses her family background, her early education in Knott County, Kentucky, and race relations in her hometown. She talks about her decision to attend Berea College, based in part on her older brother's negative experiences at the University of Kentucky. She talks about her experiences at Berea College, and her two-year preparation course at Southern Illinois University before entering medical school at UK.

Hagans talks about attending two orientation programs before starting classes at UK, and talks about her support system while in school. She talks about her social life and participation in extracurricular activities at UK. She discusses her experiences with discrimination, and says that sometimes it was difficult to tell whether she was doing poorly in classes because of their difficulty or because of discrimination by the professors. She talks about the difficulty she had with classes in medical school, and says having to defend herself to the medical school committee was her worst moment at UK.

Interview Keyword

African American Alumni African American families African American physicians Berea College College environment College students, Black Discrimination in higher education Knott County (Ky.) Minorities in higher education Universities and colleges--Faculty. University of Kentucky Alumni

Interview LC Subject

African American college graduates--Kentucky African American college students--Social conditions African Americans--Education--Kentucky--Lexington Hagans, Clella Hagans, Clella--Interviews Lexington (Ky.)--Race relations. Race discrimination Racism--Kentucky--Lexington University of Kentucky University of Kentucky--History University of Kentucky. College of Medicine

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.