Never officially recognized during her lifetime,听Lucile Berkeley Buchanan, the first African American woman to graduate from the university, will be posthumously honored this spring.
Who: Open to the public
What: Inaugural Lucile Berkeley Buchanan Lecture
When: Wednesday, April 4, 6:30鈥�8 p.m.
Where: Old Main Chapel
On April 4,听CU Boulder Associate Professor of Media Studies听Polly McLean will give the first Lucile Berkeley Buchanan Lecture. McClean听spent more than a decade exhuming Buchanan鈥檚 story and听finally听correcting听the university鈥檚 official history, which erroneously stated the first black woman to graduate from CU earned her degree in 1924鈥攚hen, in fact, Buchanan,听graduated from CU in 1918.
Later this spring,听McLean鈥檚 book Remembering Lucile: A Virginia Family鈥檚 Rise from Slavery and a Legacy Forged a Mile High will be published. And at the May commencement, McLean will accept Buchanan's听diploma and the recognition officially withheld for a century, a move Chancellor Philip DiStefano has called听鈥渓ong overdue.鈥�
Learn more听about Buchanan鈥檚 impressive story听and how McClean helped bring it to light.
