Leroy Reginald Johnson (July 28, 1928 – October 24, 2019) was an American politician who served in the Georgia State Senate from 1963 to 1975 after winning a seat in the 1962 Georgia General Assembly election. He was the first black state senator to be elected to the legislature in more than fifty years, since William H. Rogers in 1907, and the first to be elected to the Senate since 1874. He served District 38 in Fulton County and Atlanta, a predominantly black senate district created after the elimination of the county-unit system that same year.[1][2][3] Before his term as senator, Johnson was an attorney where he played a role in Atlanta's civil rights movement of the 1960s. He was later a candidate in the 1973 Atlanta mayoral election but received few votes, despite being familiar to voters and having an endorsement from The Atlanta Constitution. The position went instead to Maynard Jackson who in turn became Atlanta's first African American mayor.[2]
Leroy Johnson | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Georgia State Senate from the 38th district | |
| In office 1963–1975 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | July 28, 1928 Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. |
| Died | October 24, 2019 (aged 91) Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. |
| Spouse | Cleopatra Whittington |
| Children | 1 |
| Alma mater | Morehouse College Clark Atlanta University |
| Occupation | Teacher, lawyer |
In 2017, the State Bar of Georgia awarded its highest recognition, The Lifetime Achievement Award, to Johnson during a special ceremony held in February.[4] Johnson died on October 24, 2019, at the age of 91.[5][6]
References
edit- ^ Crimmins, Timothy; Farrisee, Anne H.; Kirkland, Diane; Council, Georgia Humanities (2007), Democracy restored: a history of the Georgia State Capitol, University of Georgia Press, p. 139, ISBN 978-0-8203-2911-6
- ^ a b "New Georgia Encyclopedia: Leroy Johnson (b. 1928)". Georgia Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2011-10-30.
- ^ Davidson, Chandler (1994), Quiet revolution in the South: the impact of the Voting rights act, 1965-1990, Princeton University Press, p. 75, ISBN 978-0-691-02108-9
- ^ "Georgia Senator Leroy Johnson Receives Prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award". Savannah Herald. March 15, 2017. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
- ^ Buchanan, Christopher (October 24, 2019). "Leroy R. Johnson, Georgia's first black state senator after reconstruction, dies". WXIA-TV. Retrieved October 24, 2019.
- ^ "Leroy Johnson Obituary - Atlanta, Georgia". Legacy.com. Retrieved 2019-10-27.