[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 16]
[House]
[Pages 22717-22718]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO JOHN H. JOHNSON

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, America is indeed a land blessed 
with many treasures and foremost among them are people. Some countries, 
for example, such as Japan, have formal programs to honor citizens 
which they classify as ``national treasures.'' We have no such formal 
program, but I take this opportunity to acknowledge such an individual.
  This evening I want to highlight one of America's great national 
treasures

[[Page 22718]]

who lives in my district, John H. Johnson.
  John H. Johnson was born, a descendant of slaves, to extremely modest 
circumstances in Arkansas City, Arkansas, in 1918. John's father died 
when he was very young. His mother, Gertrude Johnson Williams, worked 
as a domestic and levee cook.
  It was a time when Jim Crow law defined life in the South. Arkansas 
schools did not permit African Americans admittance to high school and, 
under normal conditions of the day, John Johnson's education would have 
ended with the eighth grade. However, Gertrude Johnson would not accept 
normal circumstances, and moved with her family to Chicago in 1933.
  John enrolled at DuSable High School and became an honor student, 
class president, student council president and editor of the school 
newspaper and the yearbook. He taught himself public speaking by 
standing in front of a mirror at home. Among his classmates at DuSable 
were Nat King Cole, Redd Foxx and William Abernathy.
  He won a scholarship to attend the University of Chicago at night 
while working for the Supreme Liberty Life Insurance Company, owned by 
African American businessman Harry Pace. His job at Supreme Liberty 
came as a result of his public speaking talent after Pace heard him 
speak at an Urban League event.
  One of his tasks at Supreme was the collection and organization of 
news of the African American community into a weekly digest. The black 
press of the day, such as the Chicago Defender and the Pittsburgh 
Courier, was a kind of national nerve system, transmitting information 
to every corner of every community where African Americans lived.
  John appreciated the value of the news he was collecting and, in 
1942, he launched his first magazine, Negro Digest. The $500 he used as 
seed money for his new venture came from his mother, who pawned their 
furniture. The first issue sold 3,000 copies. Within one year, 
circulation hit 50,000.
  By 1945, he launched his second magazine, Ebony, which highlighted 
the achievements of African Americans. Six years later he began 
publishing a news magazine of African American politics, entertainment, 
business and sports: Jet.
  Today, Johnson Publishing is headquartered in an 11-story building, 
located at 820 South Michigan Avenue in Chicago's Loop. The last time I 
looked, Johnson Publishing had annual revenues of some $425 million and 
more than 2,000 employees. Ebony now has a readership of more than 11 
million, and Jet enjoys a readership in excess of eight million. 
Together, it is estimated these periodicals are read in half the black 
households in America.
  Today the book division of Johnson Publishing is home to such authors 
as Lerone Bennett, Jr. and to such publishing standards as the New 
Ebony Cookbook. For those who would like to know more about the life 
and work of John H. Johnson, they also published his autobiography, 
Succeeding Against the Odds.
  The Johnson Publishing empire also encompasses Fashion Fair Cosmetics 
and Supreme Beauty Products, headed by Mrs. Eunice Johnson. The Ebony 
Fashion Fair is the world's largest traveling fashion show and raises 
money for scholarships and charities in the United States and Canada.
  John H. Johnson has received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the 
Spingarn Medal, the Horatio Alger Award, the USC Journalism Alumni 
Association Distinguished Achievement Award, the Black Journalists' 
Lifetime Achievement Award and countless other awards and recognitions.
  Awards are nice, but I suspect that Mr. Johnson takes the greatest 
pleasure in watching as his daughter, Linda Johnson Rice, joins him in 
managing Johnson Publishing as its president and chief operating 
officer.
  Mr. Speaker, John H. Johnson's dream has profoundly influenced 
America and its people. We are all impacted for the better by his 
vision and his implementation of that first of our great freedoms, the 
freedom of speech and freedom of the press.
  On September 26, Howard University will be holding its 136th opening 
convocation and will celebrate the accomplishments of communications 
pioneer John H. Johnson. In January, Mr. Johnson made a $4 million 
contribution to the School of Communication at Howard, which will be 
renamed in his honor. Mr. Johnson, a firm believer in education, is a 
great contributor to the United Negro College Fund and many other 
charities.
  Mr. Speaker, John H. Johnson may truly be said to be one of America's 
greatest living treasures. I congratulate him and his family for their 
contributions to America.

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