Jesse J. Johnson Papers (T/016)
Collection Details:
Collection Name and Number: Jesse J. Johnson Papers (T/016).
Creator/Collector: Jesse J. Johnson; and others.
Date(s): 1831-1897;1919-2001; n.d.
Size: 17.00 cubic feet.
Language(s): English.
Processed by: Tougaloo College staff; Finding Aid by Clarence Hunter, 2005.
Provenance: Gift of Jesse J. Johnson to Tougaloo College, in 1991.
Provenance: Loan of Tougaloo College of Madison County, MS, in 2004.
Repository: Archives & Records Services Division, Mississippi Department of Archives & History.
Rights and Access:
Access restrictions: Collection is open for research. Boxes 14-17 are restricted.
Publication rights: Copyright assigned to Tougaloo College. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to MDAH Reference Services, Attention: Tougaloo College Civil Rights Collection. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Tougaloo College as the owner of the physical items and as the owner of the copyright in items created by the donor. Although the copyright was transferred by the donor, the respective creator may still hold copyright in some items in the collection. For further information, contact Reference Services.
Copyright notice: This material may be protected by copyright law (Title 17, U.S. Code).
Preferred citation: Jesse J. Johnson Papers (T/016), Tougaloo College Civil Rights Collection, Mississippi Department of Archives & History.
Biography:
Jesse J. Johnson
Jesse J. Johnson was born May 14, 1914, in Hattiesburg, Forrest County, Mississippi, the oldest of four children of Isaiah and Maggie Johnson. He attended school in Hattiesburg, graduating from Eureka High in 1933. He entered Straight College in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1933, but transferred from that school in 1935, to enter Tougaloo College in Tougaloo, Madison County, Mississippi. He graduated from Tougaloo in 1939, with a bachelor of arts degree. Johnson would later earn a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1950, from the American Extension School of Law in Chicago, Illinois, and a master of arts in education in 1964, from the Hampton Institute, Hampton, Virginia.
Following his graduation from Tougaloo College, Johnson moved to Detroit, Michigan, where he worked in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). In October 1942, he enlisted in the United States Army. Johnson would serve in the army for twenty years, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He would serve in the Quartermaster Corps in Research and Development and work with the Transportation Corps. He also served as a Reserve Officers’ Training Corps Professor of Military Science at Virginia State College, Petersburg, Virginia.
Following his retirement from the Army, Johnson founded Carver Publishing, Incorporated. He was the author of: Ebony Brass, The Black Soldier, A Pictorial History of Black Soldiers, A Pictorial History of Black Servicemen, Black Armed Forces Officers, Black Women in the Armed Forces, and Roots of two Black Marine Sergeants Majors. Johnson also contributed articles for several journals and was called to speak at the United States Military Academy at West Point.
In addition to his work with the publishing industry, Johnson secured a position as a United States civil servant at the armed forces base at Fort Eustis, Virginia, as a housing referral counselor. On June 5, 1972, Johnson filed an Equal Employment Opportunity complaint against his current supervisor, former supervisor, and others, alleging that they had systematically discriminated against him because of race. A summary of the hearings showed that there was not sufficient evidence to support Johnson’s allegations. Johnson brought further allegations that he had been discriminated against at Fort Eustis when he was assigned a position as an education specialist/course writer. The record from these hearings showed that he had been treated indifferently as a writer, but no overt discrimination took place. In January 1977, Johnson filed a claim with the office of Workers Compensation Programs (OWCP), Division of Compensation for compensation for a health breakdown caused by undesirable working conditions. Nothing resulted from these claims.
Jesse Johnson was active in civil rights work at Hampton University in the 1980s and 1990s. He received special honors as a veteran of World War II from President William Jefferson Clinton in 1994. On February 24, 2006, Jesse J. Johnson died at the age of ninety-two.
Scope and Content Note:
This collection consists of the personal and professional papers, photographs, audio cassettes, and printed material of Jesse J. Johnson.
Series Identification:
Series descriptions will come at a later date.