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John H. Johnson born in Arkansas City
Johnson was born into southern poverty in Arkansas City. He recalls his first sharp memory of childhood being running from the broken levee on the Mississippi River in April 1927 - the most destructive river flood in the history of the United States. Hundreds of thousands of African Americans were displaced from their homes along the lower Mississippi, and many were forced to live in relief camps for months following the flood -
Johnson moves to Chicago with his mother
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Johnson gives speech at high school commencement
At DuSable High School - previously known as New Wendell Phillips High School. Johnson was the only student speaker, and his speech was titled 'Builders of a New World' -
Johnson joins Supreme Life
following a chance meeting at an Urban League Luncheon for outstanding high school students, Johnson met with black business leader Harry Pace - the president of Supreme Liberty Life Insurance. Supreme Life was one of the largest black businesses in the country, and Johnson found work as a publishing assistant for Pace. -
Johnson named editor of THE GUARDIAN
Johnson was assigned to Supreme Life's monthly newspaper THE GUARDIAN, and in 1939 was appointed the publications editor. It was through this position that he gained the experience necessary to take his first steps into the publishing industry. -
First issue of NEGRO DIGEST published
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First issue of EBONY published
Despite its focus on black life, the first issue of EBONY featured a group of white boys on the cover, with a single black child in the centre. The issue was 52 pages long. -
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NEGRO DIGEST
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EBONY
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JPC relocates to 1820 South Michigan Avenue
The renovated funeral parlor on the South Loop would remain home to Johnson Publishing until the company moved into a custom built headquarters at 820 South Michigan Avenue in the early 1970s -
First issue of TAN CONFESSIONS published
Tan Confessions would be renamed Tan in 1962, and would remain under that name until 1971 when it was renamed Black Stars. Starting as a confessional magazine, the publication gradually to become more like JPC counterparts EBONY and JET -
First issue of JET published
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Negro Digest cancelled for the first time
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First issue of HUE published
HUE was a monthly celebrity and gossip magazine. Like NEGRO DIGEST and JET it was digest sized, but unlike these other two publications featured full colour covers -
First issue of COPPER ROMANCE published
A similar magazine to HUE and TAN CONFESSIONS, COPPER ROMANCE was created to tap into the popularity of black confessional and romance magazines which proliferated during the early 1950s. Other magazines in this genre included COLOR and BRONZE THRILLS -
The Secret of Selling the Negro Market
Johnson produces influential marketing film 'The Secret of Sellin the Negro Market'. It featured aooearances from U.S Department of Commerce Secretary Sinclair Weeks, and prominent radio broadcaster Robert Trout -
Start of Martin Luther King Jr EBONY column "Advice for Living"
In 1957 Lerone Bennett, Jr persuaded King to begin a monthly advice column in EBONY. King's column, which ran for a little over a year, would touch on issues of sexuality, capital punishment, race relations, marital infidelity and other issues. Perhaps the most significant contribution to this column was advice given to a young boy who had written in regarding his sexual feelings towards other boys - a response which marked one of King's few recorded public statements on homosexuality. -
EBONY special issue on 'The Emancipation Proclamation
This special - the first major themed special outside of anniversary editions in EBONY's history, was a major milestone in the magazine's move towards a more comprehensive analysis of black history during the 1960s. -
NEGRO DIGEST renamed as BLACK WORLD
Following its rebranding as BLACK WORLD, editor Hoyt Fuller described its new focus on the 'two principal sites of black population in the world, the African continent and the United States...the empowerment of the black people of Harlem is not possible until black men in the Congo are in full control' -
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EBONY JR!
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EBONY JR cancelled
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First issue of EBONY MAN published
Johnson's only attempt to create a magazine focused on black men. EBONY MAN was characterised as a 'Black GQ' - a fashionable living magazine for black men which included articles on grooming, health, dating, fashion and personal finance. Its circulation peaked at around 400,000 at the end of the 1980s.
