Hunter
07/09/20
Many residents of Johnson County aren’t aware of who the county is named for. The Board of Supervisors are looking to retain the name, but change the name sake.
The county is named for Richard Mentor Johnson, who was Martin Van Buren’s vice president from 1837 to 1841. History also notes that Johnson was a slave owner.
During a work session Wednesday, Tim Walch, former director of the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library in West Branch, suggested that a study committee be convened to find a different Johnson to name the county after.
The Cedar Rapids Gazette reports that Lulu Merle Johnson is a historical figure who has ties to the county. She was the second Black woman in the United States to earn a PhD in history, and the first Black woman in Iowa to do so. She attended the University of Iowa. She is under consideration.
The board voted unanimously to change the county’s namesake , with County Attorney Janet Lyness telling them she would have to research the process for changing the county’s namesake.