Clifton H. Johnson facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Clifton H. Johnson
Born	September 13, 1921 Griffin, Georgia, US
Died	May 21, 2008 Eugene, Oregon, US
Resting place	Willamette National Cemetery
Occupation	Historian
Organization	Amistad Research Center Founding director
Known for	Documentation of African-American History

Clifton Herman Johnson (born 1921, died 2008) was an important American historian. He is best known for starting the Amistad Research Center. This center helps collect and share the history of African Americans.

Early Life and Education

Clifton H. Johnson was born in Griffin, Georgia, on September 13, 1921. He served in the United States Army during World War II. After the war, he went to college. He earned his first degree from the University of North Carolina in 1948. He then got a master's degree from the University of Chicago in 1949. Later, he earned his PhD (a very high degree) in American history from the University of North Carolina in 1959. While studying for his PhD, Johnson also taught at LeMoyne College.

A Career in History

From 1950 to 1966, Johnson taught history at LeMoyne College and East Carolina College. He also worked as an archivist at Fisk University. An archivist is someone who collects and organizes historical documents.

Later, the American Missionary Association asked Johnson for help. They had a huge collection of historical papers at Fisk University. Johnson was the perfect person for this job. His PhD research was all about the history of the American Missionary Association. He spent two years organizing their collection of about 300,000 items. He also added more documents to it. By 1963, the collection was ready for people to use and study.

In 1966, a part of the American Missionary Association created the Race Relations Department. Johnson became its director. This department helped fund his work on what would become the Amistad Research Center.

Founding the Amistad Research Center

In 1969, the Amistad Research Center became its own independent organization. The next year, it moved to Dillard University in New Orleans, Louisiana. Johnson remained the director. He worked hard to keep adding to the center's collection and to raise money for it.

Johnson led the Amistad Research Center until 1992. After that, he became an emeritus director, which means he was still honored for his past work. He continued to write articles about African-American history. He even returned as interim director for a year from 1995 to 1996. Johnson also worked as a consultant for the Steven Spielberg movie Amistad.

Johnson believed that it was very important to tell the full story of history. He once said that historians often left out the good things that African Americans and other minority groups did. He felt that this made it seem like only white people made history. He worked to change this by showing how important everyone's contributions are.

Selected Writings

Johnson wrote many articles about important topics. These included the fight to end slavery (abolitionism), African-American history, and how to manage historical archives.

• Clifton H. Johnson, "Critics of Yale Slavery Report Wrong", Yale News, January 25, 2002.
• Clifton H. Johnson, "The Amistad Case and Its Consequences in U.S. History", Journal of the New Haven Colony Historical Society, Spring 1990.
• Clifton H. Johnson, "The First Afro-American History", The Crisis, October 1970, pp. 296–299.
• Clifton H. Johnson, Albert J. Raboteau, editors, "God Struck Me Dead: Voices of Ex-Slaves", The Pilgrim Press; Second edition (July 1, 1969), ISBN: 0829809457.

Personal Life

Clifton Johnson was married to Rosemary Johnson. They had two sons, Charles and Robert, and a daughter, Virginia. He lived in Eastern New Orleans for most of the time he was director of the Amistad Research Center. He passed away at his home in Eugene, Oregon, on May 21, 2008.