Johnson, John H.

John H. Johnson, in full John Harold Johnson, (born January 19, 1918, Arkansas City, Arkansas, U.S.—died August 8, 2005, Chicago, Illinois), magazine and book publisher, the first African American to attain major success in those fields.

Johnson and his family settled in Chicago after visiting that city during the 1933 World’s Fair. He later became an honour student at Du Sable High School in Chicago, where he was managing editor of the school paper and business manager of the yearbook. Those experiences influenced his choice of journalism as a career. While studying at the University of Chicago and Northwestern University, Johnson worked for a life insurance company that marketed to African American customers. There he conceived the idea of a magazine for blacks; in 1942 he began publication of Negro Digest. Its first issue sold some 3,000 copies, and within a year the monthly circulation was 50,000. From that beginning, Johnson launched Ebony, a general-interest magazine catering to an African American audience, in 1945. Ebony’s initial pressrun of 25,000 copies was completely sold out. By the early 21st century it had a circulation of some 1.7 million.

Johnson went on to create other black publications, including Jet magazine in 1951. His firm, Johnson Publishing Company, later diversified into book publishing, radio broadcasting, insurance, and cosmetics manufacturing. In the 1980s Linda Johnson Rice, his daughter, began assuming management of the company. Johnson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1996.