Lucile Buchanan facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Lucile Buchanan
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| Born | June 13, 1884 |
| Died | November 13, 1989 (aged 105) Denver, Colorado
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| Education | B.A., University of Colorado Boulder |
| Known for | First black woman to graduate from CU Boulder |
| Parent(s) | James Buchanan and Sarah Bishop Buchanan |
Lucile Berkeley Buchanan Jones (1884-1989) was a trailblazing American woman. She made history as the first Black woman to graduate from the University of Colorado Boulder. She earned her degree in German in 1918.
Lucile Buchanan Jones is remembered for her strong independence and determination. In 2010, a scholarship was created in her honor at the university.
Contents
Early Life and Family
Lucile Berkeley Buchanan was born on June 13, 1884. Her parents were Sarah Lavina Bishop Buchanan and James Fenton Buchanan. Both of her parents had been born into slavery in Virginia.
Lucile's mother, Sarah, was likely the daughter of a white slave owner named Edmund Berkeley. The name "Lucy" was used by one of Edmund Berkeley's white daughters. Lucile's middle name, "Berkeley," followed a tradition in Virginia. It meant naming a child after a parent or grandparent. Lucile later changed her first name from Lucy to Lucile.
Her parents married in Virginia in November 1872. They had several children there, including Hattie, Hannah, Laura, and Fenton Mercer. Sadly, one daughter died shortly after birth.
The Buchanan family moved to Denver, Colorado, in May 1882. They were the first Black family to own land in the Barnum area. However, they did not move into their new home until 1886 or 1888. This was because the area lacked basic services like water, roads, and shops.
The Buchanans built a five-bedroom Queen Anne style house on their land. This house was still standing in 2018. Lucile was the first of their children born in Colorado. Four more children were born there: Sadie, Edith, Nellie, and Claribel.
Education and Career
Lucile Buchanan Jones finished Villa Park High School in June 1901. After high school, she worked as a substitute teacher for a short time. She also worked for a publishing company and as a bookkeeper.
In 1903, Lucile enrolled in a two-year teacher program. This was at what is now the University of Northern Colorado. At that time, it was called the Colorado State College for Education at Greeley. She was the only Black student in her graduating class of 1905. She was also the first Black student to earn a teaching degree from that school.
After graduating, Lucile tried to find a teaching job in Colorado but was not successful. So, she took a teaching job at Arkansas Baptist College in Little Rock. In 1908, she applied for a teaching job in Denver again, but still did not get one. From 1912 to 1915, she taught at Langston High School in Hot Springs, Arkansas. This was the only Black high school in the area.
The next year, Lucile went to the University of Chicago. She studied Greek, German, and English there for a year. Then, she decided to get a degree in German from the University of Colorado Boulder. Lucile was very good at languages; she spoke German fluently and could read Latin.
In 1918, Lucile Buchanan Jones became the University of Colorado Boulder's first Black female graduate. Even though the classrooms were integrated, it seems school officials did not want her to walk across the stage to get her diploma. While she was waiting, a woman approached her. The woman said, "I'll be your partner, Lucy," and handed Lucile her diploma. Then the woman left. Lucile never went on stage at her own graduation. She promised herself she would never return to the University of Colorado, and she never did.
Lucile was not shown in the university's yearbook that year. However, she was featured in a 1918 issue of "The Crisis." This was an official magazine of the NAACP. On May 10, 2018, the university honored her after her death. Polly E. Bugros McLean, a professor at the university, accepted a diploma on Lucile's behalf. Professor McLean also wrote a book about Lucile called Remembering Lucile: A Virginia Family's Rise from Slavery and a Legacy Forged a Mile High.
In 1919, Lucile Buchanan Jones began teaching English at Lincoln High School in Kansas City. This was an all-Black school. She enjoyed going to baseball games and helped advise the local Junior Branch of the NAACP. She started a "World News Club" for her students to talk about international events. In 1925, she created the school's first newspaper, the Observer. One of her students who worked on the paper, Lucile Bluford, became a very respected journalist and a leader in the civil rights movement.
Lucile Buchanan Jones moved back to Chicago in 1925. She got a teaching job at the Stephen A. Douglas School. She taught in the Chicago Public School System for the next 24 years. During this time, she improved her teaching skills by taking more classes. She studied at the University of Chicago and the University of Denver. She retired in 1949 at age 65, which was the required retirement age for teachers.
Marriage and Personal Life
Lucile Buchanan married John Dotha Jones in October 1926. John Jones had a degree from Columbia University and was studying at the University of Chicago. He worked for the US Postal Service. Their marriage ended, and John left in December 1935. Lucile Buchanan Jones filed for divorce, which was granted in April 1940. Even after the divorce, Lucile continued to use her married name, "Mrs. Jones," for 46 years.
The shoes she wore for her wedding are now at the Museum of Boulder. They were made by the Louvre Boot Company in Kansas City, Missouri.
Lucile Buchanan Jones had strong Baptist roots. She became the first recording secretary of the National Convention of Gospel Choirs and Choruses.
She was a lifelong member of the Republican Party, just like her parents and most Black Americans at that time. She voted in her first presidential election in November 1920. She voted in 14 presidential elections in total. She strongly believed that voting and freedom were connected.
Later Life and Legacy
After retiring in 1949, Lucile Buchanan Jones moved back to her family home in Denver. She lived there with her brother Fenton. After Fenton passed away in 1963, a neighbor and friend named Herman Dick became her driver and helper.
Later in her life, Lucile's eyesight and health declined. In 1986, she was placed under the care of the Colorado Department of Human Services. On March 3 of that year, she was moved from her home to the Stovall Care Center. She never returned home.
Lucile Berkeley Buchanan Jones passed away on November 10, 1989, at the age of 105. She was first buried in an unmarked grave. In 1998, a history enthusiast named Fred Walsen read about her burial. He arranged for her name to be added to her tombstone.
