John H. Johnson

John Harold Johnson (born January 19, 1918 in Arkansas City , Arkansas , † August 8, 2005 in Chicago ) was a prominent black American publicist and founder of Ebony magazine .

Life

Johnson, grandson of a slave, was born in Arkansas in 1918. He became an orphan at an early age because his father Leroy, a mill worker, was killed in an accident at work. His mother Gertrud Jenkins later married a colleague of his father.

He attended a separate school for whites and blacks until the eighth grade. After a visit to the world exhibition in Chicago , he moved to Chicago with his mother in 1933. His stepfather followed you later. The family lived on welfare and what his stepfather earned in a public job creation program.

Johnson managed to get into a black high school and later became the class representative and editor of the school newspaper. He graduated in 1936 and spoke at the graduation ceremony. Harry Pace, president of a major life insurance company, was very impressed with the young Johnson; he offered him employment and the opportunity to study at the University of Chicago. Johnson took it and studied first in Chicago, later at the "Northwestern". He became the editor of Pace's internal company newspaper.

By 1942 Johnson was a long-time employee of Supreme Life and he started his own career. He borrowed $ 500 from his mother and asked another 20,000 black Supreme Life customers to lend him $ 2 to build a magazine that was yet to be designed. In fact, 3,000 customers lent him $ 2 each and he was able to publish his first "Negro Digest" in June 1942, similar to a Reader's Digest .

Johnson managed to increase the circulation to 50,000 pieces within a year. Ebony magazine was developed from this idea . He was also the editor of other “black” magazines such as Jet (1951) and Fashion Fair Cosmetics (1973) and many other magazines and books. He was a media entrepreneur with his own radio and TV stations.

John H. Johnson became the richest and most influential “black” businessman in America. In 1982 he was the first "African-American" in the list of the 400 richest Americans.

In 1941 he married Eunice Walker. The marriage had two children. His daughter, Linda Johnson Rice, is now the CEO of Johnson Publishing . His son John Harold Johnson Jr. died of illness in 1981 at the age of 25.

Web links

• Website about the Negro Digest