A Look Back: Kappa History George A. Johnson Early Kappa Alpha Nu Initiate, Lifelong Educator and Distinguished Indiana University Alumnus
By Kevin Scott, Grand Historian sity, Johnson made acquaintance with the Founders of Kappa Alpha Nu (KAN) and was subsequently initiated in the fall of 1911. KAN Founders, Guy L. Grant and Henry T. Asher, along with future Grand Polemarch Frank M. Summers were fellow fraternity members to gradu- ate with him in 1915. Their graduation photos are prominently displayed in the 1915 Arbutus yearbook. Johnson achieved his Bachelor of Arts in the discipline of History. While a student at Indiana Univer- sity, the school prohibited Blacks from playing basketball, baseball, football and swimming. During a 1969 interview, Johnson recalled Blacks being told “not to come down on the [football] field in a football suit…you might get hurt.” He further recollected that Blacks were consistently discouraged from participating in anything beyond their academic studies. The fra- ternities, student union and pool were off-limits to Blacks. It was for this reason that KAN served a pivotal role in the lives of the Black students. The members of KAN organized their own activities and football team, dubbed the Univer- sity Team, comprised of Founders Ezra D. Alexander and Guy L. Grant and other members. John- son served as the University Team’s captain and manager. The team ‘borrowed’ equipment from the locker room and set up games with Blacks at other schools. Many of the Blacks they played against even- tually became members of the fraternity and chapters established at their schools from the relationship fostered from these games.
T he 1896 U.S. Supreme Court landmark decision of Plessy v. Ferguson constitutionally upheld racial segregation laws for public accommodations, thereby legitimizing commonplace restrictive Jim Crow practices. This legal justification of racial segregation applied not only to conveyances such as trains and buses, but also to hotels, theaters and schools. Because of conventional practice and the law, separate schools for Black and white students were the norm. The Black schools lacked many of the basic resources and provisions which White students enjoyed. Black schools were typically one-room, ramshackle structures with only a few books which the teachers could provide instruction. Additionally, since most Blacks were farmers or labor- ers, many of them did not have the opportunity to attend school until a later age in contrast to their white counterparts; such was the case for George A. Johnson. George Anderson Johnson was the son of a former slave, John Lee Johnson and Hester Ballou and was born in Shelby County, Ken- tucky, April 22, 1889. Following his parent’s divorce, George and his father moved to Bloomington, Indiana in 1904, where his father found employment at the then well-renowned Showers furniture factory. He first began attending elementary school at the 7 th grade and matriculated to Bloomington High School. Prior to attending Bloom- ington High School, local Black students were relegated to attend “the Colored School,” a 132’ x 132’ structure at 6 th & Washington Streets; which one teacher would teach grades 1-3, another would teach grades 4-6, while the principal
would teach grades 7 and 8.
Following graduation from Blooming- ton High School, Johnson began saving his money to afford the $9 per semes- ter tuition rates. In April of 1912, Johnson started his new job waiting tables for the Theta Chi and Delta Tau Delta Fraternity houses, earning 50¢ a week, plus room and board. In order
to enhance his income, Johnson also worked as a custodian at the Blooming- ton National Bank. At the time of his enrollment at Indiana University, only 29 Black men and one Black woman were registered as students. Once he became a student at Indiana Univer-
All students were expected to fulfill an athletic requirement for their educa-
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