Douglas and Shirley R. Johnson Papers, 1910-2013 | Oberlin College Archives

Title: Douglas and Shirley R. Johnson Papers, 1910-2013

ID: RG 30/279

Extent: 27.91 Linear Feet

Predominant Dates: 1940-2005

Arrangement

Creators

Administrative/Biographical History

Douglas and Shirley Reinwald Johnson met while students at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, and were married following their graduation in June 1940. In 1947, they moved to Oberlin, Ohio, where they were active in local government and community issues since their arrival. Douglas and Shirley R. Johnson became life members of the Oberlin Historical and Improvement Organization (O.H.I.O.). They adopted two children, Eric Charles Johnson (1950) and Emily Agnes (Mullins) Johnson (1953).

Douglas R. Johnson was born to Raymond C. and Alpha Nordseth Johnson on July 1, 1917 in St. Peter, Minnesota. He graduated from Butte (Montana) High School in 1934, and graduated from Antioch College with a B.S. in civil engineering in 1940. At a time when most men were entering the armed services to fight in World War II, Johnson declared himself a conscientious objector and remained in Yellow Springs to work with the Civilian Public Service Corps on soil conservation projects with the United States Forest Service, the National Park Service, and the Soil Conservation Service. When he was discharged in 1946 he supervised construction on a new dormitory designed for Antioch College.

In 1947, Douglas and Shirley R. Johnson moved to Oberlin, Ohio. Doug had taken a job as a manager (with fellow Antioch graduate Max Ratner) of the Lorain Veterans Housing Association, a cooperative housing project in Lorain, Ohio, under the auspices of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). The housing project was based on another AFSC venture, the Penn-Craft Community in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, and built 30 homes on Meister Road in Lorain in the 1950s. This was a self-help housing project that consisted of steel workers and other veterans under the teaching, supervision and management of Johnson and Ratner. These workers built their own houses and performed all tasks necessary for building except excavation.

In 1950 Douglas Johnson passed the Ohio State Board exam for architectural registration. Over the next fifteen years, he designed and supervised the construction of housing and other building projects in Oberlin and the Cleveland area. From 1955 to 1965 he was the Cleveland area construction supervisor for the Berea firm of Mellenbrook, Foley, & Scott, Architects. In 1965, Doug Johnson became Facilities Manager at Gilford Instrument Laboratories, a manufacturer of medical diagnostic systems based in Oberlin. He remained at Gilford until his retirement in 1985.

Douglas was an Oberlin city councilman for three terms from 1966 to 1971. He also served on numerous city boards, including the Fair Housing Committee (as treasurer), Planning Commission (as chairman), and Building Code Committee. As chairman of the Low Income Housing Committee, he was instrumental in getting 100 public housing units, including a 50-unit elderly housing high-rise, built in Oberlin. In 1987, Douglas campaigned unsuccessfully for a seat on the Oberlin School Board.

In 1984 Douglas Johnson began serving on the Public Library Planning Committee, and in 1986 he became a member of the library's New Buildings Committee. He served on the boards of the Oberlin Consumer's Co-operative (1992-96) and the Bill Long Foundation (1992-95), and was the area coordinator for Common Cause, a citizens group concerned with congressional funding and ethics. Douglas traveled and made visits overseas and elsewhere in the United States. His travels included trips to England, France, Norway, Italy, Greece, the Galapagos Islands, and Antarctica.

Shirley Reinwald Johnson was born on July 15, 1917 in Chicago, Illinois, and grew up in Chicago and Flushing, New York. Her mother, Agnes Stella Garrity, died in 1918, a year after Shirley was born. Her maternal grandmother raised her until age four and a half when her father remarried. While she was in high school, she became interested in civil liberties issues and wanted to become a criminal lawyer. Her father, Charles A. Reinwald, a corporate lawyer, discouraged this goal, since a career in criminal law would be difficult for a woman in the early 1940s.

Shirley graduated from Flushing High School in 1935 and entered Antioch College where she worked to eliminate the separate governance systems for men and women. After receiving a B.A. in education in 1940, she married Douglas Johnson. She then taught in Antioch's Lab School for four years and was also an instructor in the College’s Education Department. Shirley has taken continuing education courses at Kent State University and the Ohio State University.

The Johnsons' involvement in local issues continued soon after they settled in Oberlin. During a contentious school board election in the late 1940s, a local kindergarten teacher asked Shirley Johnson to attend a school board meeting. At that time before Ohio's sunshine laws required open meetings, visitors were not welcomed at school board meetings. Shirley persisted, however, and was a force in making the meetings open to the public. She continued to attend school board meetings and became increasingly active in the Oberlin School District. She served on committees, including the Citizens Committee for Public Schools in the 1960s and the Superintendent's Advisory Committee in the 1980s, and also worked on levy campaigns. The Principal and Superintendant Advisory Committees were part of her OOEA responsibilities. Shirley took detailed notes at the school board meetings for over 50 years and donated many of these documents to the Oberlin College Archives.

In 1960, Shirley R. Johnson became a substitute teacher in the Oberlin Public Schools. She started working as a learning disabilities tutor in 1972 and eventually became a special education teacher in 1987. She retired from teaching in 1993.

As a board member of the League of Women Voters, Shirley Johnson worked on various research studies on topics including civil liberties, the municipal court, school finance, social services, and taxes. In the early 1960s, she also attended the Oberlin Municipal Court as an observer to record the court proceedings.

Douglas and Shirley Johnson were involved with the American Civil Liberties Union affiliated chapter in Yellow Springs, and in 1952 they became charter members of the Oberlin chapter of the ACLU (the Oberlin chapter later became the North Central Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio). Shirley Johnson served the chapter as secretary, treasurer, and general liaison at various time and was named a life member of the board in the early 1980s. She also served on the board of the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio in the 1980s and 90s.

Shirley was a member of the Oberlin Public Library Board for thirteen years in the 1960s and 70s, and served as chair for three years. During her tenure she opened board meetings and records to public scrutiny and encouraged library staff to participate.

In 1971-72, Shirley volunteered on Ralph Nader's Who Runs Congress survey. For this study she interviewed community leaders and Congressman Charles A. Mosher's staff. The Johnsons also worked on several political campaigns for Donald J. Pease, including his state house and congressional campaigns between 1964 and 1990.

Shirley R. Johnson was the recipient of numerous awards, including the Civil Liberties Award from the ACLU of Ohio (1977); Antioch Alumni Association Arthur Morgan Award for commitment to the community (1991); the Oberlin Ohio Education Association's award for contributions to education (1984); Oberlin School District recognition award (1986); Oberlin Board of Education Certificate of Appreciation (1994); and the Oberlin College Award for Distinguished Service to the Community (1995). The Johnsons were community associates for Oberlin College students for several years.

Shirley R. Johnson was also an observer at Lorain County Commissioners meetings beginning in 1997 where she and her husband were instrumental in getting their meetings to allow public participation on a regular basis. Shirley also continued to monitor their compliance with Ohio’s Open Records and Meeting Law.

Douglas R. Johnson died on July 24, 2009. Shirley R. Johnson passed away on January 11, 2013.

Sources Consulted

Douglas and Shirley R. Johnson Papers (RG 30/279)

Douglas and Shirley R. Johnson provided additional information and additional comments.

The Chronicle Telegram, July 28, 2009

Lorain County Journal, Saturday, July 9, 1988

Oberlin News-Tribune, January 17, 2013

Forms of Material (links to similar genres)

Administrative Information

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Scope and Contents:

The papers of Douglas and Shirley R. Johnson document the life and activities of a prominent couple in the public life of Oberlin and Northeast Ohio. The Johnsons are and continue to be deeply involved in local and statewide social concerns, with special emphasis on public right to know and fairness issues. To account for their respective spheres of life, the papers are arranged in two subgroups. Subgroup I consists of files relating to the Johnson’s personal life and work, while Subgroup II contains files relating to their community, regional, and state service.

Subgroup I comprises ten record series. The textual materials Include biographical, genealogical, correspondence, and financial files, materials relating to Douglas Johnson's professional and service work, and Shirley’s employment and role as an advocate for the protection of civil liberties. Non-textual materials may be found in Series 6 though 10, with photographs, negatives, slides, photograph albums, sound recordings, moving images, artifacts, architectural drawings and art reproductions.

The records document Douglas Johnson’s career as an architect and construction supervisor from the mid-1940s to mid-1950s. This material includes his work in Ohio at Lorain, Yellow Springs, Berea, Columbia Station, North Olmsted, Parma and Oberlin. Included is a significant photograph album documenting these building projects. The series also includes architectural drawings by Douglas Johnson for a remodel of a private home. His lead role in creating a free-standing Oberlin Public Library, his childhood and his time in retirement until his death on July 24, 2009 are also revealed in the papers.

Papers relating to Shirley R. Johnson document her childhood days, her education and subsequent employment at Antioch College, her role as a mother (son Ricky and daughter Emily) and wife, her early and mid-life years as an advocate for the protection of civil liberties (mostly the rights that fall under the First Amendment), her leadership in the local Northeast Chapter and State of Ohio ACLU, and finally, her time as a public school teacher in the Oberlin School District from the late 1950s to mid-1990s. Her involvement in the school district continued beyond her employment through 2012, documented in Subgroup II.

Subgroup II contains nine record series, most of which contain numerous subseries. Of special interest are sets of files relating to the local and state chapters of the American Civil Liberties Union, the Oberlin School District, Oberlin City Council, and the Lorain County Board of Commissioners. These files span approximately eight decades, from the late 1940s to 2011. Preoccupied with protecting the public’s right to know and with hot-button topics such as separation of church and state, school uniforms, right to privacy, and open meeting laws, these files document Shirley R. Johnson’s attendance at countless meetings, week after week, as she frequently made annotations on public documents in her capacity as a self-elected community watchdog. These annotations are not always easily read; however, they often tell more about what happened than what is found in the meeting minutes alone. This subgroup also contains topical files on subjects such as Oberlin race relations, local history, abortion, and the Ralph Nader Congress Survey of 1971-72.

The papers of Douglas and Shirley R. Johnson exhibit the wider spirit and social considerations of the city of Oberlin, a community widely known for its liberalism and peculiarities. While the papers document the community and state service of the Johnsons in an exemplary way, there are a few areas that are underrepresented. The biographical files shed light on the personal side of this engaging couple. The correspondence files in subgroup I, which span the years 1938-2011, are not all-inclusive which leaves under-documented specific aspects and events relating to the Johnsons. The papers that reflect the community and state service, on the other hand, provide rich details of their tireless devotion their civic duty. Shirley R. Johnson, acting as participant-observer and keeper of the record, annotated countless ACLU, Oberlin Board of Education, and Oberlin City Council meeting agendas. Her annotation provides further evidence of her involvement in First Amendment and due process rights, the accountability of public officials, separation of church and state, and education. Taken as a whole, the assembled annotated pieces constitute her weekly personal archives. Found in the nature of these records are valuable insights into the strong beliefs of a socially conscious couple and a unique view of what it means to live in a small community like Oberlin.

SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

Subgroup I. Files Relating to Family Life and Work (10.31 l.f.)

Subgroup I consists of materials found in ten (10) record series that document Douglas and Shirley R. Johnson's personal and professional lives. The nine series are: 1. Biographical Files, 2. Correspondence Files, 3. Financial Records, 4. Lorain Cooperative Housing Project Files of Douglas Johnson, 5. Teaching Files of Shirley R. Johnson, 6. Photographs, 7. Sound Recordings and Moving Images, 8. Artifacts, 9. Architectural Drawings, and 10. Art Reproductions.

Series 1. Biographical Files, 1917, 1940, 1963-2009, 2011, 2013, n.d. (0.4 l.f.)

Series I consists of biographical information about the Johnsons. The series is divided into two subseries: the files of Douglas Johnson and the files of Shirley R. Johnson. Included is material relating to their high school and college education, family genealogy, Shirley R. Johnson’s many awards and certificates; obituaries, Douglas Johnson’s campaigns for city and school board positions, retirement, personal notes, and sympathy letters. Also included are some handwritten notes from their daughter Emily and granddaughter Sara.

Series 2. Correspondence Files, 1938-2011, n.d. [span] (1.2 l.f.)

Arranged in two subseries: Correspondence between Douglas and Shirley R. Johnson (1938-39, 1944-48), and Correspondence with Family and Acquaintances (spanning 1938-2011). Series 2 primarily consists of incoming personal letters. The letters from Douglas to Shirley Johnson cover his status and work as a conscientious objector during World War II. Included are typed and handwritten letters (round-robin and individual letters) by Max and Marge Ratner, Bronson Clark, Charles Reinwald and Art Dole covering the war years, with a few in the 1990s-2000s. Of particular interest is a letter from the Johnsons regarding Douglas Johnson’s remembrance of friend Max Ratner (d. 2002).

Series 3. Financial Records, 1942-92 (0.4 l.f.)

The financial records series consist of 14 hardbound personal expense ledgers (dated from 1942 to 1992) and document monthly expenditures and income of the Johnsons. Specific expenditures, which include food, housing, clothing, transportation, and gifts, cover a half-century of time.

Series 4. Lorain Cooperative Housing Project Files of Douglas Johnson, 1938, 1945, 1947-48, 1989, n.d. (0.1 l.f.)

Included here is material related to a cooperative housing project in Lorain, Ohio, sponsored by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), directed by Douglas Johnson and Max Ratner. The project files consist of a 1989 article by Douglas Johnson about the housing project and newspaper account. The issues of the Lorain Labor Leader (1948) and the magazine America (written in Russian, n.d.) contain articles about the housing project. Filed here also is material about another AFSC cooperative housing project, the Penn-Craft Community in Fayette County, Pennsylvania. (See also a 1961 letter to A. Hurford Crossman of the American Friends Service Committee in Subgroup I, Series 2.)

Series 5. Teaching Files of Shirley R. Johnson, 1959-63, 1968-82, 1986-94, 1996, n.d. (0.6 l.f.) (*some files are restricted due to confidential information)

The teaching files of Shirley R. Johnson contain material related to her work in the Oberlin School District as a substitute teacher, tutor, and learning disabilities teacher. The files include correspondence, notes, newspaper clippings, curriculum reviews, and reference materials related to the Special Education and Tutor programs, employee issues, the Oberlin Ohio Education Association (OOEA), and topics such as curriculum reviews (1979, 1992, n.d.) and reading (particularly the controversy about the use of the Spalding Unified Phonics Method in the Oberlin Schools). Also present are handwritten appreciation notes from students (1991). Due to confidential information, permission of the Archivist is required for access to graduate coursework file.

Series 6. Photographs, ca. 1910s-2008 [span] (2.01 l.f.)

This series consists of photographs, negatives, slides, and photograph albums. One intact photograph album contains black and white photographs (1940s-1956) of building projects, including those that Douglas Johnson worked on as an architect. These include buildings at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, and in Berea, Columbia Station, Lorain, North Olmsted, Oberlin, and Parma, Ohio. The loose photographs are primarily portraits and casual photos of family and friends, but also include buildings and Oberlin subjects, with some corresponding negatives. The small number of slides document Chicago city views in 1977, and a blizzard in Oberlin in 1978.

Series 7. Sound Recordings and Moving Images, 1993, 2007 (0.1 l.f.)

The sound recordings consist of an audiocassette tape (original and copy) of Shirley R. Johnson’s retirement party in 1993. This tape contains rich commentary about her from many members of the Oberlin community. The moving images include a videocassette tape of “Oberlin Impact Town Meeting,” Shirley Johnson recognized, 12 March 2007, and an unidentified 8 mm film. Additional audiovisual material will be found in Subgroup II, Series 3, Subseries 9.

Series 8. Artifacts, 1965, 1969, n.d. (0.2 l.f.)

Includes a badge for Douglas Johnson’s campaigns for Oberlin City Council, 1965 and 1969, and three (3) pins relating to Martin Luther King, Jr. “Don’t Let the Dream Die,” n.d.

Series 9. Architectural Drawings, 1954, 1962, n.d. (4.0 l.f.)

Consists of four pencil drawings on vellum for a remodeling of the home of Mr. and Mrs. J. B. Landfield, 287 W. College Street, Oberlin, Ohio, and one pencil drawing for a proposed beach house. Additional drawings for an addition and renovation of the Oberlin Municipal Court (1999) are filed in Subgroup II, Series 6., Oberlin Municipal Court.

Subgroup II. Files Relating to Community and State Service (17.8 l.f.)

Subgroup II consists of nine (9) series files. These materials document the Johnsons’ service and activism in the Oberlin community and the state of Ohio. The nine series are: 1. American Civil Liberties Union, North Central (Ohio) Chapter, 2. American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, 3. Oberlin School District, 4. Oberlin City Council, 5. Oberlin Consumers Cooperative, 6. Oberlin Municipal Court, 7. Oberlin Public Library, 8. Lorain County Board of Commissioners, and 9. Subject Files.

Series 1. American Civil Liberties Union, North Central (Ohio) Chapter, 1915, 1953-2011, n.d. (2.2 l.f.) (*some files are restricted due to confidential information)

Series 1 consists of administrative records including agendas and minutes, by-laws and policies, case files, financial files, newspaper clippings and publicity, and topical files. There is also material relating to the Oberlin College Student Chapter of the ACLU, 1985-86, 2003 (one folder). Due to confidential information found in the content, permission of the Archivist is required for access to case files. (Note: the bulk of the dates listed above are span dates only.)

Series 2. American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, 1941, 1948, 1951, 1954, 1957-2002, n.d. (1.6 l.f.) (*some files are restricted due to confidential information)

Consists of meeting notes and minutes, 1969-2002; by-laws and policies, 1966-2001; correspondence, 1957-2001; case files, 1978-2001; financial files, 1969-2000; financial records, 1969-2000; newspaper clippings and publicity, 1977-2001; and topical files, 1941-2001. Due to confidential information, permission of the Archivist is required for access to case files. (Note: the bulk of the dates listed above are span dates only.)

Series 3. Oberlin School District, 1954-2012, n.d. (9.8 l.f.)

(*some files are restricted due to confidential information)

Series 3 contains files accumulated by Shirley R. Johnson as an observer of School Board meetings. This series is further subdivided into nine subseries: 1. Board of Education Meeting Agendas and Minutes, 2. Board of Education By-laws and Policies, 3. Committees, 4. Correspondence and Memoranda, 5. Financial Records, 6. Newspaper Clippings, 7. Press Releases, 8. Special Topics, and 9. Audio and Video Recordings. The bulk of the material in this series consists of topical files. The remainder of the series consists of Board of Education by-laws and policies; committees on which Shirley Johnson served; correspondence; financial records; newspaper clippings on administrative issues; press releases; and audio/video recordings. Due to confidential information, use of the Citizens Committee for Public Schools interviews (n.d.) of departing teachers, specific contract files, and personnel reports require permission of the Archivist. Restricted files are noted on the inventory.

Series 4. Oberlin City Council, 1953, 1959-60, 1970s-80s, 1992, 1997-2006, 2008-12, n.d. (1.2 l.f.)

This series consists of files relating to city ordinances (affirmative action, 1976; housing, 1960; and the “Can Ban,” 1978-86), correspondence, financial records, newspaper clippings, and policies and charters.

Series 5. Oberlin Consumers Cooperative, 1964, 1972-73, 1975-76, 1978-87, 1989-94, 1998-2000, n.d. (0.4 l.f.)

(*some files are restricted due to confidential information)

These files document the history of the local cooperative, incorporated in 1940, and include board meeting minutes and notes, correspondence, financial records, newspaper clippings, and restricted personnel files. There is also material relating to Douglas Johnson’s involvement in the co-op bookstore on West College Street. Due to confidential information, permission of the Archivist is required for access to personnel files.

Series 6. Oberlin Municipal Court, 1960-61, 1964, 1999 (0.2 l.f.)

This series consists of notes taken by Shirley Johnson as an observer in the Oberlin Municipal Court in 1960-61 and 1964. Also present are addition and renovation drawings for the Municipal Court, 1999.

Series 7. Oberlin Public Library, 1903-89, 1995, 1998, 2005-06, n.d. (0.8 l.f.)

These files document Shirley Johnson’s service on the board of the Oberlin Public Library, 1967-76, and Douglas Johnson’s interest in the public library’s relationship to Oberlin College, particularly with regard to plans by Oberlin College to move the Public Library out of the College’s Carnegie Library Building in 1986-88. These files contain meeting notes, correspondence, copies of historical documents, and newspaper clippings.

Series 8. Lorain Country Board of Commissioners, 1995, 1998-2013, n.d. (0.8 l.f.)

The records of the Lorain Country Board of Commissioners are arranged in two subseries: general files and subject files covering the controversy over the Lorain County Regional Airport (LCRA). The general files contain board meeting notes and agendas, memoranda, and newspaper clippings. The LCRA files consist of correspondence to the Lorain County Commissioners, Environmental Protection Agency reports, and newspaper clippings.

Series 9. Subject Files, 1923, 1944-45, 1947, 1949-2003, 2005, 2011, n.d. (0.6 l.f.)

The subject files are arranged in two subseries: name files and subject files. The name files contain correspondence, newspaper clippings, and related materials on community and national personages such as Martin Luther King, Jr., James “Bill” Long, Thurgood Marshall, Charles Mosher, and Elizabeth Rumics. The subject files contain correspondence, newsletters of various organizations, handwritten notes, and newspaper clippings. The subjects include local issues and Oberlin history, race relations, an Oberlin economic and population study from 1969, and other issues such as abortion and the Ralph Nader Congress Survey project on which Shirley Johnson volunteered in 1971-72.

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