Bishop Joseph A. Johnson Jr. was Vanderbilt University’s first Black student and graduate. The late theologian was admitted to the Nashville, Tenn. school on this day in 1953, and then earned a Ph.D. from the university as well.
Johnson was born on June 19, 1914 in Shreveport, La. The future bishop graduated with honors from Texas College in 1938, and then earned a master’s and doctorate degree from the Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Colo. Details about why Johnson chose Vanderbilt are sparse, but it appears he applied as a joke. At 38 years of age and with three children, Johnson was far older than even some of the graduate students.
As he had already earned advanced degrees, it’s not known why Vanderbilt had him go through the process of obtaining a bachelor’s degree in divinity from its school. But In 1958, while working as a minister at Nashville’s Capers Memorial Church, he also obtained his Ph.D there.