Champion of Black History: Lincoln University History Professor Lorenzo Johnston Greene

Celebrate the legacy of Lincoln University professor and historian Lorenzo Johnston Greene at the 2nd Annual Lorenzo Johnston Greene Black History Month Celebration on Feb. 25 at 5:30 p.m. in Pawley Theatre, MLK Hall.

Lorenzo Johnston Greene, a pioneering African American historian and longtime Lincoln University of Missouri faculty member, reshaped the study of race, labor and Black history in the United States through decades of scholarship, teaching and civil rights work.

Born Nov. 16, 1899, in Ansonia, Connecticut, Greene earned a bachelor’s degree from Howard University in 1924 and a master’s in history from Columbia University in 1926. From 1928 to 1933, he worked closely with Carter G. Woodson, director of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, serving as a field representative and research assistant. Their collaboration led to publications including The Negro Wage Earner (1930). In 1931, Greene co-authored The Employment of Negroes in the District of Columbia with Myra C. Callis, reflecting his early interest in urban history, social history and race relations.

Greene joined Lincoln University in 1933 as a history instructor and remained on the faculty until 1972. While teaching, he earned his Ph.D. in history from Columbia University in 1942 and published The Negro in Colonial New England, 1620–1776, a groundbreaking study on African Americans in early American labor and society. Later, he co-authored Missouri’s Black Heritage with Antonio F. Holland and Gary Kremer, a landmark work on Black life in the state.

Beyond academia, Greene contributed to civil rights and education. He served as editor of the Midwest Journal from 1947 to 1956, as president of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History from 1965 to 1966, and as chairman of the Subcommittee on Education of the Missouri Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights from 1959 to 1961. He also played a key role in efforts to desegregate Kansas City schools in the early 1970s.

Greene married Thomasina Tally in 1942 and died Jan. 24, 1988, in Jefferson City. His diary, Working with Carter G. Woodson, the Father of Black History, 1928–1930, was published posthumously, and his papers are now housed at the Library of Congress.

Lincoln University will honor Greene’s legacy with the 2nd Annual Lorenzo Johnston Greene Black History Month Celebration on Feb. 25 at 5:30 p.m. in Pawley Theatre, MLK Hall. The event is presented by the university’s African American & Africana Studies program and co-hosted by Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., Alpha Mu chapter.

David Walton, associate professor of history and African American & Africana studies, will deliver the keynote address, “Fighting for Freedom: The Military Service of the 62nd and 65th United States Colored Infantry.” The event is free and open to the public.