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Archival Collections
Furniture Industry Archives
Black History ➔ Archival Collection #069 - Lewis M. Johnson
Identifier:
1994.11.1Description:
Archival Collection #069 - Lewis M. Johnson involves papers that relate to the professional experience of Lewis M. Johnson (1925-1987), a West Michigan African-American employed in the furniture industry. Materials include educational certificates and training ephemera, photographs, technical manuals, receipts and papers, NAACP papers, design drawings, etc.Johnson began work at John Widdicomb Co. as a cabinet maker in 1950. By 1982 Mr. Johnson had risen to increase his own understanding and background in furniture production, and his efforts to encourage the training of other African Americans.
The collection provides insight into the broad issues of work place advancement and training and most specifically, into on African American’s rise through the ranks of local industry. This collection is particularly important because it spaces 1960s – 1980s, encompassing the civil rights era and the years immediately following when much attention was places on affirmative action programs and issues of minority representation in the American workplace. This was a period of critical important for the emergence of black Americans into higher levels of management and corporate administration.
A full listing of the contents of this collection can be found in the finding aid that is attached to the media section of this catalog entry.
Date:
1950 – 1970Materials:
PaperCurrent Location Status:
In StorageCollection Tier:
Tier 2Source:
Gift Of Andy FraserRelated Entities:
Lewis M. Johnson (creator)Lewis M. Johnson was a West Michigan African-American employed in the furniture industry. He began work at John Widdicomb Company as a cabinet maker in 1950. By 1982 Johnson had risen to the position of Vice-President of Manufacturing. Archival Collection #69 documents Mr. Johnson's professional career through certificates, manuals, design drawings, photographs, and assorted papers. Gary G. Fraser (donor) National Association For The Advancement Of Colored People (is related to)
Alternate names: NAACP
On January 3, 1919, fifty people gathered with Rev. Robert Bagnall, the Great Lakes district organizer of the NAACP, to charter the Grand Rapids chapter. The National office of the NAACP granted a charter to the local chapter twenty-two days after the submission of their application. The officers of the branch were Thomas E. Benjamin, a railroad porter, who served as president; Basil Ray, a waiter, was appointed vice president; George M. Smith, a printing superintendent, was the group’s secretary; and J. Ed Jones, a custodian, became treasurer. Each charter member paid one dollar and received a subscription to Crisis magazine. The organization of the chapter in 1919 was a part of the larger expansion of NAACP branches all over the country. A historian of the NAACP noted that, at the time of the 1919 national conference of the NAACP in Cleveland, “there were 220 branches and 56,345 members, and the circulation of the Crisis stood at 100,000. (Source: https://naacpgr.com/our-story-greater-grand-rapids-naacp/)
