Ella Mae Johnson

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Ella Mae Cheeks Johnson (January 13, 1904 – March 22, 2010) was an

U.S. President Barack Obama.[1][2]

Biography

Early life

Johnson was born Ella Mae Smith on January 13, 1904, in

Dallas, Texas.[3][4] She never met her father, and she became an orphan when her mother died of tuberculosis when she was four years old.[3][4] She was raised by her neighbors, the Davis family.[3][5]

She was the salutatorian of her high school, Dallas Colored High School.[5]

Johnson was able to attend college through several

tearoom,[3] enrolling at Fisk University in 1921.[5] As a student, she attended a commencement speech by W. E. B. Du Bois. She received a bachelor's degree in French from Fisk University, though she graduated six months later than expected after participating in a semester boycott of the school led by Du Bois.[5]

After graduation, Smith briefly moved to

Western Reserve University's School of Applied Social Science,[5]
African American students which were admitted to the school's social work graduate program each year.[3][5]

Personal life

She married her first husband, Elmer Cheeks, an

probation officer at the Cleveland Municipal Court.[3]
She was also widowed from her second marriage.

Career

Johnson worked for both the

Aid to Dependent Children, an American federal government program.[3][6] Her job involved finding scholarships for low-income students and distributing financial payments to single mothers.[3] Among the people she helped were Louise Stokes and her young sons, Carl Stokes and Louis Stokes.[7] She retired in 1961 and began travelling, ultimately visiting more than 30 countries,[3] including Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Greece, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico and Syria.[4]

She moved to the Judson at

assisted living facility, in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, in 1975.[6]

Obama inauguration

Johnson gained national attention in 2009, when at the age of 105,

U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown.[6] In several interviews, Johnson said of President Obama, "I found him so interesting and brilliant"[6] and predicted a future female American president: "God wouldn't give African-American men what he wouldn't give to the women."[3]

Death and autobiography

Johnson died at Judson Park in Cleveland, Ohio, on March 22, 2010, at the age of 106.[3] She was survived by her sons, James Cheeks and Paul Cheeks; a stepson, D. Wright Johnson; five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.[6] She was the oldest living African American alumna of Case Western Reserve University at the time.[5]

Johnson's autobiography, It Is Well with My Soul: The Extraordinary Life of a 106-Year-Old Woman, which she co-wrote with author Patricia Mulcahy, was published posthumously by Penguin Books.[5] Johnson's 203-page memoir, which was originally scheduled to be released in May 2010,[5] was moved up to a new release date of March 31, 2010, due to her death.[6]

References

  1. ^ Associated Press (December 27, 2008). "Ohio centenarian to celebrate 105 at inauguration". USA Today. Retrieved April 17, 2010.
  2. ^
    National Public Radio
    . Retrieved April 17, 2010.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Segall, Grant (March 23, 2010). "Ella Mae Cheeks Johnson, 106, was a social worker and civic leader". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved April 17, 2010.
  4. ^ a b c Brett, Regina (March 28, 2010). "106-year-old Ella Mae Johnson leaves legacy of wisdom: Regina Brett". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved April 17, 2010.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Hong, Terry (April 2, 2010). "It Is Well with My Soul". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved April 17, 2010.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Bertz, Lindsay (April 2, 2010). "Cleveland Heights woman, who died at 106, lives on in new book". The Sun Press. Sun Newspapers. Retrieved April 17, 2010.
  7. ^ Sims, Damon (December 24, 2008). "Oldest living black CWRU grad to be guest at Obama inauguration". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved April 26, 2010.
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