Harriet C. Johnson

Last updated
Harriet C. Johnson
Born1845 (1845)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
DiedNovember 11, 1907(1907-11-11) (aged 61–62)
NationalityAmerican
Other namesHarriet Cassell Loudin
Occupation(s)Educator, Suffragist
Spouse
Frederick J. Loudin
(m. 1870;died in 1904)

Harriet C. Johnson (1845-1907) was an African-American suffragist and educator.

Contents

Life

Johnson was born in December 1845 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. [1] She attended the Institute for Colored Youth in Philadelphia, graduating in 1864. [2]

Johnson began her career as an educator working as the principal at the Philadelphia Association of Friends for the Instruction of Poor Children's infant department. In 1868 she went on to become the principal of the preparatory and ladies' departments of Avery College in Pittsburgh. At that time Henry Highland Garnet (1815-1882) served as president of the university. [2] Garnet was a black nationalist and it is possible that his philosophies influenced Johnson's activism in women suffrage. [1]

Around 1870 Johnson attended the National Convention of the Colored Men of America (NCCMA) in Washington, D.C. where she was the only female delegate. Her presence there caused a debate, with some members arguing that the organization was for men only and others arguing that excluding Johnson because she was a woman was similar to African American men being excluded from government solely on the basis of race. The side advocating her inclusion prevailed and Johnson maintained her seat as the delegate from Allegheny City. [1]

In 1870 Johnson married Frederick J. Loudin (c.1836–1904), a member of the Fisk Jubilee Singers and leader of the Loudin Jubilee Singers. [1] [2]

Johnson died on November 11, 1907. [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Highland Garnet</span> American abolitionist (1815–1882)

Henry Highland Garnet was an American abolitionist, minister, educator, orator, and diplomat. Having escaped as a child from slavery in Maryland with his family, he grew up in New York City. He was educated at the African Free School and other institutions, and became an advocate of militant abolitionism. He became a minister and based his drive for abolitionism in religion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frances Ellen Watkins Harper</span> African-American author and activist

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper was an American abolitionist, suffragist, poet, temperance activist, teacher, public speaker, and writer. Beginning in 1845, she was one of the first African American women to be published in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susan McKinney Steward</span> American physician and writer

Susan Maria McKinney Steward was an American physician and author. She was the third African-American woman to earn a medical degree, and the first in New York state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Jane Patterson</span> American educator (1840–1894)

Mary Jane Patterson was an American educator born to a previously enslaved mother. She is notable because she is claimed to be the first African-American woman to receive a B.A degree. In 1862, she completed the four-year 'gentlemen's course' at Oberlin College. She first taught at the Philadelphia's Institute for Colored Youth. She then went on to teach at the Preparatory High School for Colored Youth, known today as Dunbar High School, in Washington, D.C.. She became its first Black principal. She was a lifelong advocate for Black education, helping to found the Colored Woman's League which later became the National Association of Colored Women. A humanitarian, Patterson also devoted time and money to Black institutions in Washington, D.C.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarah J. Garnet</span> American activist (1831–1911)

Sarah J. Tompkins Garnet was an American educator and suffragist from New York City who was a pioneer and influential African-American female school principal in the New York City public school system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frederick J. Loudin</span> American singer

Frederick Jeremiah Loudin was the leader of the Loudin Jubilee Singers. His commanding presence and ambitious personality caused him to emerge as an unofficial spokesperson during the four years he toured with them. He later became internationally famous as the leader of his own brand of Jubilee Singers, the Loudin Jubilee Singers, who toured internationally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maritcha Remond Lyons</span> American educator, civic leader, writer (1848–1929)

Maritcha Remond Lyons was an American educator, civic leader, suffragist, and public speaker in New York City and Brooklyn, New York. She taught in public schools in Brooklyn for 48 years, and was the second black woman to serve in their system as an assistant principal. In 1892, Lyons cofounded the Women's Loyal Union of New York and Brooklyn, one of the first women's rights and racial justice organizations in the United States. One of the accomplishments of the Women's Loyal Union was to help to fund the printing of an important antilynching pamphlet, Southern Horrors: Lynch Laws in All Its Phases by Ida B. Wells.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harriet Forten Purvis</span> American abolitionist (1810–1875)

Harriet Forten Purvis was an African-American abolitionist and first generation suffragist. With her mother and sisters, she formed the first biracial women's abolitionist group, the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society. She hosted anti-slavery events at her home and with her husband Robert Purvis ran an Underground Railroad station. Robert and Harriet also founded the Gilbert Lyceum. She fought against segregation and for the right for blacks to vote after the Civil War.

America W. Robinson was an American educator. Robinson was in the first graduating class of Fisk University and sang as a contralto with the Fisk Jubilee Singers. She was the first woman to graduate from Fisk University.

Mary Campbell Mossell Griffin was an American writer, clubwoman, and suffragist based in Philadelphia. She led successful efforts to pass Pennsylvania's anti-lynching law. She co-founded a summer camp with Anna J. Cooper. She wrote a 1915 text titled Afro-American Men and Women Who Count.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adella Hunt Logan</span> American suffragist

Adella Hunt Logan was an African-American writer, educator, administrator and suffragist. Born during the Civil War, she earned her teaching credentials at Atlanta University, an historically black college founded by the American Missionary Association. She became a teacher at the Tuskegee Institute and became an activist for education and suffrage for women of color. As part of her advocacy, she published articles in some of the most noted black periodicals of her time.

Mary Elizabeth Eato was an African-American suffragist and teacher.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harriet Redmond</span> African-American suffragist

Harriet Redmond, also known as Hattie Redmond, was an African-American suffragist who lived and worked in Portland, Oregon. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, she moved to Oregon at a young age where she then became an active member of the suffragist movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sadie L. Adams</span> African-American suffragette and club woman

Sadie L. Adams was an African-American teacher, suffragist, and clubwoman. She was one of the first women to serve on an election board in Chicago and one of the founders of the Douglas League of Women Voters. In 1916, she served as a delegate from Chicago's first black suffrage organization, the Alpha Suffrage Club, to the National Equal Rights League conference. She was elected president of the Chicago and Northern District Association of Colored Women's Clubs in 1921, serving into 1934. She was also involved in various charity clubs and organizations that helped to engage women in war work during World War I, provide resources for underserved youth, and increase suffrage for Black women.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phyllis Terrell</span> American suffragist and civil rights activist

Phyllis Terrell Langston was a suffragist and civil rights activist. She worked alongside her mother, Mary Church Terrell, in the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs and the White House pickets during demonstrations made by the National Woman's Party.

Helena B. Cobb was an American educator and missionary from Georgia. Born in Monroe County, Georgia, she attended Atlanta University and served as an educator and principal at many schools for African Americans in the state. She was also active in organizing and pushing for greater missionary opportunities for women within the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church.

Harriet Purvis Jr. also known as Hattie Purvis was an African-American abolitionist, suffragist and a member of the temperance movement. She was part of the second generation of American suffragists. Purvis worked closely with Susan B. Anthony.

Charlotte M. Rollin was an American political and civil rights activist, suffragist, and feminist. Rollin, along with her sisters, became well known for her political activism in South Carolina and nationally during the period of Reconstruction. Lottie Rollin was chair of the South Carolina American Woman Suffrage Association and the Rollin Sisters were said to be 'among the most influential lobbyists and power brokers in South Carolina during Reconstruction'.

Mary J. Johnson Woodlen (1870-1933) was an influential suffragist in Wilmington, Delaware. She was vice president of the Wilmington chapter of NAACP, a founding member of the Wilmington Equal Suffrage Study Club, and a major religious speaker at Methodist churches in the area.

Alice L. Thompson Waytes aka "Miss A.L.T. Waytes of Boston" was an African American educator and public speaker who campaigned for Black women's suffrage and the Progressive Party under Theodore Roosevelt.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Walton-Hanley, Jennifer. "Biography of Harriet C. Johnson, 1845-1907". Biographical Database of Black Women Suffragists. Alexander Street. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 "Harriet C. Johnson". Library Exhibits. Villanova University. Retrieved 14 October 2019.