Mordecai Johnson is recognized as the first African American president of Howard University in Washington, D.C. He was born Mordecai Wyatt Johnson on January 12, 1890, in Paris, Tennessee, to Wyatt J. Johnson, a preacher and mill worker, and Carolyn Freeman, a domestic worker.
Johnson’s early education began at Barrs Chapel C.M.E. Church in Paris. After moving to Nashville, he attended Roger Williams University and later furthered his studies at the Howe Institute (now LeMoyne-Owen College) in Memphis, before transferring to Atlanta Baptist College (now Morehouse College) where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1911. He obtained a second B.A. at the University of Chicago in 1913. While at Chicago, he was a professor of Economics and History at Atlanta Baptist College. In 1916, Johnson became a minister, intertwining his commitment to faith and education.
On December 25, 1916, Johnson married Anna Ethelyn Gardner Johnson from Augusta, Georgia, with whom he had five children: Dr. Archer Clement Johnson, Dr. Mordecai Wyatt Johnson, Jr., William Howard Johnson, Carolyn Johnson Graves, and Anna Faith Johnson Jones.
Johnson served in the United States Army during World War I and was honorably discharged in 1917. He then pastored First Baptist Church in Charleston, West Virginia, where he was a charter member and the first president (1918-1921) of the Charleston branch of the NAACP. In 1920, he earned a Bachelor of Divinity degree from Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, followed by a Master of Theology degree in 1922 from Harvard University.
In 1926, Johnson became the 11th President of Howard University. Under his leadership, Howard University flourished, and his contributions were recognized when he was awarded the NAACP’s prestigious Spingarn Medal in 1929 for his civil rights and education work. In 1957, inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s efforts, Johnson invited King to serve as the dean of Howard’s School of Religion. However, King declined the offer to focus on his vital civil rights work across the United States.
ย Dr. Mordecai Johnson retired in 1960 after an extraordinary 34 years as Howard’s president.ย During his tenure Congressional appropriations to the university increased from $200,000 to $6,000,000 annually.ย Congressional financial support was unique to Howard among HBCUs at the time and ensured its place as the premier Black university during the period.ย During Johnsonโs tenure Howardโs enrollment increased from 2,000 in 1926 to more than 10,000 in 1960. Howard also became a Phi Beta Kappa institution. Johnson also appointed leading scholars to the faculty, including the Harvard-trained Rhodes Scholar Alain Leroy Locke, literary scholar and poet Sterling Brown, Nobel laureate Ralph Bunche, and Percy Julian, an award-winning chemist.
After the passing of Anna Ethelyn Gardner Johnson in 1969, Johnson married Alice Ann Allen Woodson from Memphis, Tennessee, in 1970.
Johnson received numerous awards, including honorary doctorates from Atlanta University (now Clark Atlanta University, Paine College, Delaware State University, Harvard University, Howard University, Michigan State College of Agriculture and Applied Science, the University of Liberia, and Virginia State University. In 1973, the Mordecai Wyatt Johnson Administration Building on Howard’s campus was dedicated in his honor.
Dr. Mordecai Johnson died on September 10, 1976, in Washington, D.C. at 86. His legacy as an educator, religious leader, and civil rights activist extends to this day, inspiring others to strive for equity and justice in all aspects of humanity.
