Eunice W. Johnson
Eunice W. Johnson | |
---|---|
Title | Founder and director of the Ebony Fashion Fair |
Spouse | |
Children | 2 |
Eunice Walker Johnson (April 4, 1916 – January 3, 2010) was an American businesswoman. Johnson was the wife of publisher John H. Johnson and an executive at Johnson Publishing Company.[1] Johnson was the founder and director of the Ebony Fashion Fair, which began in 1958 as a hospital fundraiser and became an annual worldwide fashion tour that highlighted fashion for African-American women, running until a year before her death.[2]
Early life and education
Eunice Walker was born on April 4, 1916, in Selma, Alabama, to Nathaniel Walker, a physician, and Ethel Walker (née McAlpine), a high school principal. She was one of four children. She graduated with a degree in sociology from Talladega College in 1938. During college, Johnson joined Delta Sigma Theta.[3] Johnson met her future husband, John H. Johnson, in 1940 while she was attending Loyola University Chicago and was married after she earned her master's degree the following year.[4]
Career
Johnson Publishing Company
Together with her husband, she established
Ebony Fashion Fair & Cosmetics
Johnson began the Ebony Fashion Tour (which later became known as Ebony Fashion Fair) as a fundraiser in 1958 for a hospital in New Orleans. In its half century of existence, the tour visited 200 cities across the United States, Canada and the Caribbean, raising over $50 million for charity. The fashion tour was a pioneer in using African-American models on the runway and helped highlight the works of African-American designers. Building on her difficulties in finding cosmetics suited to the skin tones of her models, Johnson created Fashion Fair Cosmetics in 1973 as a line of makeup that would be sold in leading department stores.[4]
Death, family and legacy
Johnson died of
In 2010, the Noble Network of Charter Schools and Chicago Public Schools opened Johnson College Prep High School, a public charter high school in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood, in honor of Johnson and her husband John H. Johnson.[7]
References
- ^ Jensen, Trevor. "Eunice W. Johnson dies at 93; gave Ebony magazine its name", Los Angeles Times, January 5, 2010. Accessed January 9, 2010.
- ^ Faulkner, Leesha. "Eunice Walker Johnson remembered", Selma Times-Journal, January 6, 2010. Accessed January 9, 2010.
- ^ "Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Mourns Beloved Member and Fashion Pioneer, Eunice W. Johnson" Archived 2010-10-26 at the Wayback Machine, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, January 8, 2010.
- ^ a b c d e Hevesi, Dennis. "Eunice Johnson Dies at 93; Gave Ebony Its Name", The New York Times, January 9, 2010. Accessed January 9, 2010.
- ^ Encyclopedia of African American Business
- ^ Ebony (March 1982)
- ^ History & Campus Partnerships.