In 1952 two of four students who had filed suit to gain admission to graduate and professional schools enrolled. Gene Mitchell Gray entered in the winter quarter as a graduate student in chemistry (although he took only undergraduate courses), and Lincoln Blakeney enrolled in the Law School. Blakeney, age 30 and former YMCA secretary who … Continued
The first African American head coach at UT was Wade Houston who was appointed head basketball coach in 1989. He was also the first African American head coach of a major sport in the Southeastern Conference.
James Craig and Audry Hardy were the first African Americans to compete for UT in track and field in 1967.
Myrtle Chester Ferguson, who served as head Track and Field coach from 1998 to 2002, was the first African American head coach of a women’s intercollegiate sport.
The board of trustees approved the admission of all races to all programs of the university at its fall 1960 meeting. Three African American students registered for the winter quarter 1961, which began January 3: Charles Edgar Blair, Willie Mae Gillespie, and Theotis Robinson Jr. Robinson and Blair were 18-year-old graduates of Austin High School, … Continued
Kaye Johnson, a senior in industrial engineering, was sponsored by the Black Cultural Programming Committee and was elected homecoming queen by the student body in 1983. In a separate contest, Traci Drake, a freshman in chemical engineering, was crowned the black homecoming queen in a contest sponsored by UT black alumni. Shannon Whittington was crowned … Continued
The first African American to enroll in the Law School (1952) was Lincoln Anderson Blakeney. He stayed one quarter.
Tennessee linebacker Jackie Walker, a graduate of Knoxville’s Fulton High School, was named All-American in 1970 and repeated in 1971 by being named to four All-America teams.
Felicia Harris Felder-Hoehne was the first African American library faculty member when appointed as a reference librarian in 1969. She served in this capacity until her retirement in December 2013. She was also the first Black person to serve on the Knoxville-Knox County Library Board of Directors from 1971-1977, during which she served five years … Continued
Derrick Brodus, a walk-on freshman from Alcoa who played on the practice team, became the first African American kicker for UT when he was called from his apartment to take over kicking duties in 2011 because both the starting and back-up kickers were injured.