Luska Twyman was a Kentucky

Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

 politician and World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 veteran. Born in Hiseville, Kentucky

Hiseville, Kentucky

Hiseville is an unincorporated community in Barren County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 224 at the 2000 census, at which time it was a city. It is part of the Glasgow Micropolitan Statistical Area...

 in 1913, Twyman became Kentucky's first African American

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

 mayor in 1968 when he became mayor of Glasgow, Kentucky

Glasgow, Kentucky

Glasgow is a city in and the county seat of Barren County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 14,200 at the 2000 census. The city is well-known for its annual Scottish Highland Games. In 2007, Barren County was named the number one rural place to live by Progressive Farmer magazine...

.

He was an alumnus of Kentucky State University

Kentucky State University

Kentucky State University is a four-year institution of higher learning, located in Frankfort, Kentucky, United States, the Commonwealth's capital. The school is an historically black university, which desegregated in 1954...

 and appointee of the United States Commission on Civil Rights

United States Commission on Civil Rights

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights is historically a bipartisan, independent commission of the U.S. federal government charged with the responsibility for investigating, reporting on, and making recommendations concerning civil rights issues that face the nation.-Commissioners:The Commission is...

. During his tenure as mayor, Twyman was also the principal of Ralph Bunche School

Ralph Bunche

Ralph Johnson Bunche or 1904December 9, 1971) was an American political scientist and diplomat who received the 1950 Nobel Peace Prize for his late 1940s mediation in Palestine. He was the first person of color to be so honored in the history of the Prize...

, which originally was the city's school for African-Americans before integration. After integration, the school became the sixth-grade school for the entire Glasgow Independent School District.