I really am happy for the people of Louisiana today! Who would have thought this would happen back in the days of the Aints and down low fans of the team (you know, old school Louisiana residents, when people would say they were going to the ‘dome, but wouldn’t say why)? Good for Who Dat? Nation!!! Though they were going to party regardless of who won. LOL. Now about choosing a mayor. LOLOL.
Daily Archives: February 8, 2010
Ten years ago today…
My second son, Nat was born. It is a joy to be his mother.
Eunice W. Johnson
I couldn’t have done it without him. He couldn’t have done it without me.
Eunice W. Johnson was born April 4, 1916 in Selma, Alabama. Her father was a physician who practiced for over fifty years. Her mother was a high school principal and instructor at Selma University, which her paternal grandfather helped establish.
She obtained a bachelor’s degree from Talladega University and a master’s from Loyola University in Chicago. While she was studying there, she met John H. Johnson, whom she later married and with whom she built Johnson Publishing. Although she is known as the person who gave Ebony its title, she worked hard with her husband to create the largest privately held, black owned publishing company in the world.
When she was called upon to organize a fundraiser for a hospital in New Orleans, the idea for the Ebony Fashion Fair was born. The touring fashion show, which netted over $55 million for charitable causes, helped to launch the careers of designers like Yves St. Laurent, Valentino, Pierre Cardin and Roberto Cavalli and models like Pat Cleveland. Black designers who were featured in the shows included Patrick Kelly, Willi Smith, Kevan Hall, L’Amour, Quinton de Alexander and Stephen Burrows. In 1973, Fashion Fair Cosmetics was created out of frustration over a lack of options for the Ebony Fashion Fair models. Its early advertising campaigns featured luminaries like Leotyne Price, Diahnn Carroll and Aretha Franklin.
Eunice W. Johnson served as the director and producer of the Ebony Fashion Fair, as well as Secretary-Treasurer of Johnson Publications until her death on January 3, 2010.
John H. Johnson
John H. Johnson was born on January 18, 1918 in Arkansas City, Arkansas. He was the grandson of slaves. After his father was killed in a sawmill accident, his mother, a washerwoman and cook, saved money to relocate the family to Chicago for better opportunities. He attended DuSable High during the day with Nat King Cole and Red Foxx during the day and read self-improvement books at night. He was the editor of the school paper and president of his class.
In 1942, when he created his first magazine, Negro Digest, black people had contributed to many aspects of American life, including the war effort, but were largely ignored by the mainstream media. Within a year, it had a circulation of 50,000.
At this point he began planning a magazine that would have large, colorful, glossy covers reminiscent of Life Magazine, to “show not only the Negroes but also white people that Negroes got married, had beauty contests, gave parties, ran successful businesses, and did all the other normal things of life.” His wife, Eunice Johnson, came up with the name, Ebony. It was the first magazine to target regular consumer advertising, as well as niche items, to African Americans.
In 1951, Johnson Publishing launched Jet. In 1973, when models touring with the Fashion Fair shows were unable to find suitable cosmetics, Johnson’s company created the Fashion Fair cosmetics line. In 1982, John H. Johnson was the first African-American on Forbes magazine’s list of the 400 wealthiest people in the nation. He died in 2005.
