Guion Griffis Johnson

Guion Griffis Johnson
Born 11 April 1900
Greenville, Texas
Died 12 June 1989
Occupation Historian
Spouse(s) Guy Benton Johnson
Children Benton Johnson and Edward Johnson

Guion Griffis Johnson, 1900–1989, was a pioneering female historian.

Life

Born Frances Guion Griffis in Wolfe City, Texas on 11 April 1900, she was raised in Greenville, Texas. She married Guy Benton Johnson, a noted sociologist, and together they had 2 sons Guy Benton, Jr. and Edward.[1] She died, aged eighty-nine, on 12 June 1989.[2]

Academic career

She attended Baylor College for Women and began studying journalism. After marriage, she and her husband moved from Texas to take up positions at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. There she was offered an associate professorship and earned her PhD in History.[3]

Because so few women were active historians at the time, Johnson's first mention in the American Historical Review referred to her as "he". She published several studies of the ante-bellum South, delving into race relations, religion, freed slaves, women's life, and other aspects which had previously been only lightly treated.[4] Her award-winning book Ante-Bellum North Carolina: A Social History is still considered an important resource.[2][5]

She became heavily involved in women's organizations and issues after the end of the Second World War, when opportunities for women again became limited.[6] She and her husband also collaborated on several research projects.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Johnson, Guy (June 2006). "Guy Benton Johnson Papers, 1830–1882, 1901–1987". University of North Carolina, Louis Round Wilson Special Collections Library. Archived from the original on 22 February 2010. Retrieved 22 February 2010.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Thuesen, Sarah Caroline (January 2002). "Making Southern History: Guion Griffis Johnson's Ante-Bellum North Carolina". University of North Carolina, University Library. Archived from the original on 23 February 2010. Retrieved 23 February 2010.
  3. ↑ Scott, Anne Firor (1993). Unheard Voices: The First Historians of Southern Women (Feminist Issues : Practice, Politics, Theory). Charlottesville, Virginia: The University Press of Virginia. pp. 38–39. ISBN 978-0-8139-1433-6.
  4. ↑ Scott, Anne Firor (1993). Unheard Voices: The First Historians of Southern Women (Feminist Issues : Practice, Politics, Theory). Charlottesville, Virginia: The University Press of Virginia. pp. 40–42. ISBN 978-0-8139-1433-6.
  5. ↑ Johnson, Guion Griffis (1937). Ante-Bellum North Carolina: A Social History. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina press.
  6. ↑ Scott, Anne Firor (1993). Unheard Voices: The First Historians of Southern Women (Feminist Issues : Practice, Politics, Theory). Charlottesville, Virginia: The University Press of Virginia. pp. 43–44. ISBN 978-0-8139-1433-6.
  7. ↑ Thomas, Harry. "Guion Griffis Johnson: A Pioneering Scholar". University of North Carolina, University Library. Archived from the original on 22 February 2010. Retrieved 22 February 2010.