Interview with Lora Robertson Dysart, June 9, 1977

Interview Summary

Lora Robinson Dysart enrolled at the University of Kentucky in 1916 and graduated in 1920 with a B. S. degree in Botany. She was from Paducah, Kentucky. She recalls that she was overwhelmed at first by the university environment. Dysart talks about various instructors she had during this time, including Mary Frances Jewell McVey, and said she was a "very good teacher". She mentions that Dr. William Funkhouser, who was Chairman of the Zoology Department and Dean of the Graduate School at U.K., was one of the first explorers of the Okefenokee Swamp (now the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge) before he came to U.K. Dysart talks about living in a dormitory on campus, Patterson Hall, and says most of the social activities were at the fraternity and sorority houses. She talks about her membership in the Raffinesque Botany Club, of which she was Secretary and President, where they talked about subjects not covered in class and went on field trips. Dysart was a Blue Ridge delegate to meetings held at an Assembly near Black Mountain, North Carolina for the Y.W.C.A. and Y.M.C.A., where she brought back information to the university "apropos to social and spiritual development".

Dysart recalls some of the daily activities on U.K.'s campus during that time and mentions some of the regulations students were asked to follow, such as daily attendance at chapel and a whistle that was used to change classes. She remembers former UK Presidents James K. Patterson and Frank L. McVey. She recalls the university closed down and the students were sent home with the onset of World War I and the influenza pandemic. She mentions the tradition of holding pep rallies before football and basketball games.

Interview LC Subject

Dysart, Lora Robertson Dysart, Lora Robertson--Interviews University of Kentucky University of Kentucky--History

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