John Johnson: Penning A Legacy From Poverty to Power

Arkansas City, AR – Tamora Walker Williams

The United States Postal Service is paying homage to the late John Johnson with a stamp in its Black Heritage series.   Johnson built a publishing empire one magazine at a time.  His trailblazing entrepreneurship is shared in his autobiography, Succeeding Against the Odds: The Inspiring Autobiography of One of America’s Wealthiest Entrepreneurs.”

In Arkansas City, Arkansas where Johnson was born, he is remembered fondly.  Desah County judge Mark D. McElroy met Johnson at the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the John H. Johnson Museum, dedicated one month before Johnson died in 2005.  McElroy says,   “To know that he was raised in poverty but became one of the richest men in America is truly inspiration to me.“

Judge McElroy pointed to the John Johnson museum in Arkansas City, citing the irony of the museum’s location.  It sits in the same lot of the high school building that Johnson could not attend because of his race.  McElroy reflected on the changes that have occurred over the years. He added, “The more we work together, the better race relations and our community will become. We’ll all float in the same boat, or we’ll all sink.”

Johnson and his mother moved to Chicago in 1933 where he finished his education, worked as an office assistant at Supreme Liberty Life Insurance Company, and founded Johnson Publishing Company which became the largest African American owned publishing company in the world.  Johnson Publishing Company is known worldwide for Ebony magazine, Jet magazine, and its Fashion Fair cosmetics line.
But in Arkansas City, John Johnson is known as a native son.  Laura Bell Glasco grew up in the small town and met Johnson at the museum dedication.  She says, “He was a great man who came from a small town and went on to do great things.”

All who knew him speak with admiration.  Carol Willis worked as a political adviser for former President Bill Clinton during his days as governor of Arkansas.  Willis says he and Johnson formed a friendship over the years with Willis visiting Johnson and his family in Chicago.   Willis describes his friend as a philanthropist and a role model. He explained, “His magazines were the communication mechanisms for the Black community, especially Jet.”  And the nation is saluting his contribution with its stamp of approval.