John Howard Griffin facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
John Howard Griffin
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| Born | June 16, 1920 |
| Died | September 9, 1980 (aged 60) Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.
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| Education | University of Poitiers |
| Occupation | Writer |
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Notable credit(s)
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Black Like Me |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) |
Elizabeth Ann Holland
(m. 1953) |
| Children | 4 |
John Howard Griffin (born June 16, 1920 – died September 9, 1980) was an American writer from Texas. He wrote about and worked for racial equality. He is most famous for a special project he did in 1959. He changed his appearance to look like a Black man. Then, he traveled through the Deep South of the United States. He wanted to experience life and segregation from a different point of view.
He first shared his experiences in articles for Sepia magazine. Later, he wrote a full book called Black Like Me (1961). This book was even made into a movie in 1964.
Contents
Early Life and Adventures
John Howard Griffin was born in 1920 in Dallas, Texas. His mother was a talented piano player. She helped him love music too. He won a music scholarship and went to France. There, he studied the French language and medicine.
When he was 19, he joined the French Resistance. This was a secret group fighting against the enemy during World War II. He worked as a medic, helping people. He even helped Austrian Jews escape to safety in England.
Serving in the Military
Griffin returned to the United States and joined the United States Army Air Forces. He served for over three years in the South Pacific. He was honored for his bravery. For a year, he lived on Nuni, one of the Solomon Islands. He was there to study the local culture.
During this time, he got very sick with malaria. This made him temporarily unable to move his legs. In 1946, he slowly lost his eyesight. This was because of a serious head injury from a Japanese bomb. He stayed blind until 1957, when his sight mysteriously came back.
Life Back Home
After the war, Griffin came back to Texas. He became a Catholic in 1952. He taught piano lessons. He married one of his students, Elizabeth Ann Holland. They had four children together.
In 1952, he published his first novel, The Devil Rides Outside. It was a mystery story set in France. He also wrote essays about losing his sight and then getting it back. When his sight returned in 1957, he also became a photographer.
Black Like Me: A Journey of Understanding
In the fall of 1959, Griffin wanted to understand what life was like for African Americans. At that time, racial segregation was legal in the South. Black people faced many unfair rules and challenges. White people were trying to keep things the same, even as the civil rights movement grew.
Changing His Appearance
Griffin went to a skin doctor in New Orleans. The doctor helped him darken his skin using medicines, sunlamp treatments, and creams. Griffin also shaved his head to hide his straight hair. He wanted to look like a Black man.
For six weeks, he traveled as a Black man. He went through New Orleans and parts of Mississippi. He also visited South Carolina and Georgia. He mostly traveled by bus and by hitchhiking. A photographer joined him to take pictures of his journey. Sepia magazine paid for his project. They published his articles first, calling them Journey into Shame.
Experiencing Segregation
When he finished his journey in Montgomery, Alabama, he stopped taking his skin-darkening medicine. He published a longer version of his story in the book Black Like Me (1961). The book became very popular.
In the book, Griffin shared the difficulties Black people faced every day. He wrote about finding food, places to stay, and even restrooms. He also described the hatred he sometimes felt from white people. But he also shared stories of white Southerners who were kind and helpful.
Impact of the Book
The book made Griffin famous for a while. He and his family even faced threats in their hometown of Mansfield, Texas. Because of this, they moved to Mexico for about nine months before returning to Fort Worth.
Black Like Me was made into a movie in 1964. It starred James Whitmore as John Howard Griffin. In 2011, a special 50th anniversary edition of the book was released.
Later Life and Legacy
Griffin continued to give talks and write about race relations and social justice. This was during the early years of the Civil Rights Movement. In 1964, he received an award for helping people understand different races. In 1975, Griffin was attacked because of his work, but he survived.
In his later years, Griffin studied his friend Thomas Merton. Merton was a famous monk and writer. Griffin was chosen to write Merton's official life story. However, his health, especially type 2 diabetes, kept him from finishing it.
His Passing
John Howard Griffin passed away in Fort Worth, Texas, on September 9, 1980. He was 60 years old. He died from problems related to his diabetes. He was buried in his hometown of Mansfield, Texas.
Works Published After His Death
Some of Griffin's writings were published after he died. His unfinished book about Thomas Merton was published in 1983. It was called Follow the ...: Thomas Merton, the Hermitage Years, 1965–1968.
His essays about his blindness and getting his sight back were put together in a book. It was called Scattered Shadows: A Memoir of Blindness and Vision (2004).
For the 50th anniversary of Black Like Me, new editions of his books were published.
Learning More About Griffin
- Robert Bonazzi wrote a book about Griffin called Man in the Mirror: John Howard Griffin and the Story of Black Like Me (1997).
- A film documentary called Uncommon Vision: The Life and Times of John Howard Griffin was released in 2011. It tells his story and was shown on TV.
Other Works by John Howard Griffin
- The Devil Rides Outside (1952)
- Nuni (1956)
- Land of the High Sky (1959)
- Black Like Me (1961)
- The Church and the Black Man (1969)
- A Hidden Wholeness: The Visual World of Thomas Merton (1970)
- Twelve Photographic Portraits (1973)
- Jacques Maritain: Homage in Words and Pictures (1974)
- A Time to be Human (1977)
- The Hermitage Journals: A Diary Kept While Working on the Biography of Thomas Merton (1981)
- Scattered Shadows: A Memoir of Blindness and Vision (2004)
- Available Light: Exile in Mexico (2008)
Similar Journeys for Understanding
John Howard Griffin's project inspired others to try similar things.
- Ray Sprigle: In 1948, this white journalist pretended to be a Black man. He traveled in the Deep South for a month. He wrote articles about his experiences.
- Grace Halsell: A white female journalist from Texas, inspired by Griffin. She also disguised herself as a Black woman. She wrote a book called Soul Sister (1969) about her experiences.
- Günter Wallraff: A white German journalist who often went undercover. He pretended to be different people to show how they were treated. In 2009, he made a film called Black on White, showing how he was treated in Germany while pretending to be a Black man.
