Eunice W. Johnson

Eunice Walker Johnson (April 4, 1916 – January 3, 2010) was an American businesswoman. Johnson was the wife of publisher John H. Johnson and an executive at Johnson Publishing Company.[1] Johnson was the founder and director of the Ebony Fashion Fair, which began in 1958 as a hospital fundraiser and became an annual worldwide fashion tour that highlighted fashion for African-American women, running until a year before her death.[2]

Eunice W. Johnson
Johnson photographed in her office at Johnson Publishing Company in Chicago, circa 1975.
Born
Eunice Walker

(1916-04-04)April 4, 1916
DiedJanuary 3, 2010(2010-01-03) (aged 93)
Resting placeOak Woods Cemetery (Chicago, Illinois)
EducationB.A. Talladega College
Alma materLoyola University Chicago
Occupations
  • Businesswoman
  • company executive
Years active1942–2008
Notable credits
TitleFounder and director of the Ebony Fashion Fair
Spouse
(m. 1941; died 2005)
Children2

Early life and education

Eunice Walker was born on April 4, 1916, in Selma, Alabama, to Nathaniel Walker, a physician, and Ethel Walker (née McAlpine), a high school principal. She was one of four children. She graduated with a degree in sociology from Talladega College in 1938. During college, Johnson joined Delta Sigma Theta.[3] Johnson met her future husband, John H. Johnson, in 1940 while she was attending Loyola University Chicago and was married after she earned her master's degree the following year.[4]

Career

Johnson Publishing Company

Together with her husband, she established The Negro Digest in 1942, a magazine styled after Reader's Digest. The rapid growth of their first publication encouraged them to create Ebony, a monthly designed to emulate Life and its style of boldly-photographed front covers. Johnson was the one who suggested that the magazine be named for the dark wood.[4] By the time of her death, Ebony reached a readership of 1.25 million, and its weekly companion Jet reached a circulation of 900,000. She was a great influence to a lot of African Americans.[4]

Ebony Fashion Fair & Cosmetics

Johnson began the Ebony Fashion Tour (which later became known as Ebony Fashion Fair) as a fundraiser in 1958 for a hospital in New Orleans. In its half century of existence, the tour visited 200 cities across the United States, Canada and the Caribbean, raising over $50 million for charity. The fashion tour was a pioneer in using African-American models on the runway and helped highlight the works of African-American designers. Building on her difficulties in finding cosmetics suited to the skin tones of her models, Johnson created Fashion Fair Cosmetics in 1973 as a line of makeup that would be sold in leading department stores.[4]

Death, family and legacy

Johnson died of renal failure January 3, 2010, at the age of 93 at her home in Chicago. She was buried with her husband in a private family mausoleum at Oak Woods Cemetery, in the Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood of Chicago's South Side.[5] She was survived by her daughter Linda Johnson-Rice, chairwoman and chief executive of Johnson Publishing, as well as by a granddaughter. Her son, John H. Johnson Jr., died in December 1981 after a long battle with an illness related to sickle cell at age 25.[6][4]

In 2010, the Noble Network of Charter Schools and Chicago Public Schools opened Johnson College Prep High School, a public charter high school in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood, in honor of Johnson and her husband John H. Johnson.[7]

References

  1. Jensen, Trevor. "Eunice W. Johnson dies at 93; gave Ebony magazine its name", Los Angeles Times, January 5, 2010. Accessed January 9, 2010.
  2. Faulkner, Leesha. "Eunice Walker Johnson remembered", Selma Times-Journal, January 6, 2010. Accessed January 9, 2010.
  3. "Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Mourns Beloved Member and Fashion Pioneer, Eunice W. Johnson" Archived 2010-10-26 at the Wayback Machine, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, January 8, 2010.
  4. Hevesi, Dennis. "Eunice Johnson Dies at 93; Gave Ebony Its Name", The New York Times, January 9, 2010. Accessed January 9, 2010.
  5. Encyclopedia of African American Business
  6. Ebony (March 1982)
  7. History & Campus Partnerships.
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