Dates

• Existence: January 21, 1916 - July 7, 2004

Biography

Dorothy H. Johnson was a Black social worker, civil rights leader, journalist, and mental health advocate. Born in Kansas City, Kansas on January 21, 1916, Johnson attended Sumner High School, where her father, John A. Hodge was principal. She received a bachelor’s degree in journalism (1937) and a master’s degree in social work (1960), both from the University of Kansas. Among the various roles she held throughout her career were Journalist for the Kansas City Call, Director of the Department of Health and Welfare for Jackson County, Public Relations Secretary for the Urban League of Kansas City, Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s School of Medicine, and as a research associate and consultant for the Greater Kansas City Mental Health Foundation. Dorothy Johnson received numerous honors and awards for her work from organizations such as the National Association of Social Workers, the Mid-America Regional Council, The Central Exchange, and in 2009, a UMKC residence hall was dedicated in her name alongside that of her late husband, Herman A. Johnson.

Throughout her life Johnson was also an avid geneologist, compiling dozens of files of information from both sides of her family. Of particular note are files on: her father, John A. Hodge, a principal at Sumner High School; her first husband Dowdal H. Davis, a police commissioner and journalist for the Kansas City Call; her aunt Byrdie D. Jackson, an elementary educator; and her uncle Luther P. Jackson, a choral director and music educator, among many others. All in all, her research contextualizes approximately two dozen individual family members across three families spanning 99 years. In 2015, Johnson was inducted into the Starr Women’s Hall of Fame. Johnson died on July 7, 2004 in Kansas City, Missouri.

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