Wadmalaw Island | The HistoryMakers

Jack Johnson

Jack Johnson was born on April 3, 1949 in Wadmalaw Island, South Carolina to Adolphus and Ermine Johnson. Johnson graduated from Haut Gap High School on John’s Island, South Carolina in 1966 and received his B.S. degree from Benedict College in 1970. He attended Howard University School of Law, obtaining his J.D. degree in 1975. Johnson served in the United States Army Reserves as a combat medic during the Vietnam War.

In 1975, Johnson worked as an attorney in the Office of Chief Counsel with the Internal Revenue Service until 1984. For the next three years, he served as a law professor at North Carolina Central University’s School of Law. Johnson then became the Deputy State Attorney, managing the day-to-day operations of the prosecutor’s office, before becoming the State’s Attorney for Prince George’s County, Maryland. In this position, Johnson recruited a diverse, highly motivated and well-trained staff of prosecutors, investigators, administrators and support personnel.

In December 2002, Johnson was elected the sixth County Executive of Prince George’s County. He made history shortly after being elected to office by increasing the county’s budget by more than $1 billion. Johnson’s budget priorities focused on education and public safety. He increased the school funding by over $100 million and is also responsible for building the largest police force in the county’s history and saving the county’s hospital system. Johnson was re-elected to a second term in 2006.

Johnson has served as a board member of the Prince George’s County United Way and the Coalition of Concerned Black Christian Men. He has received the NAACP President Award and the National Forum of Black Public Administrators’ First Leadership Award.

Johnson resides in Mitchellville, Maryland with his wife, Leslie. They have three adult children.

Johnson was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on April 26, 2007.

Accession Number

A2007.163

Sex

Male

Interview Date

4/26/2007

Last Name

Johnson

Maker Category

LawMakers

PoliticalMakers

Occupation

State Deputy Attorney

County Government Official

Organizations

Schools

Haut Gap High School

Howard University School of Law

Benedict College

Edith L. Frierson Elementary School

First Name

Jack

Birth City, State, Country

Wadmalaw Island

HM ID

JOH30

Favorite Season

Fall, Spring

State

South Carolina

THM DA Link

http://marc.thehistorymakers.org/thmdigital/A2007.163.htm

Web Clip 1

https://thmdaprodmedia.blob.core.windows.net/media/story/video/647678

Favorite Vacation Destination

Hilton Head, South Carolina

Favorite Quote

It All Works Out.

Bio Photo

Speakers Bureau Region State

District of Columbia

Birth Date

4/3/1949

Birth Place Term

Wadmalaw Island

Speakers Bureau Region City

Washington

Country

United States

Favorite Food

Rice

Short Description

State deputy attorney and county government official Jack Johnson (1949 - ) was elected County Chief Executive of Prince George’s County, Maryland.

Employment

AXA Financial

North Carolina Central University

Internal Revenue Service

Prince George's County (MD)

Prince George's County Executive’s Office

Favorite Color

Red

Web Clip 2

https://thmdaprodmedia.blob.core.windows.net/media/story/video/647680

Timing Pairs

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DAStories

Tape: 1 Story: 1 - Slating of Jack Johnson's interview

Tape: 1 Story: 2 - Jack Johnson lists his favorites

Tape: 1 Story: 3 - Jack Johnson describes his mother's family background, pt. 1

Tape: 1 Story: 4 - Jack Johnson describes his mother's family background, pt. 2

Tape: 1 Story: 5 - Jack Johnson describes Edisto Island, South Carolina in the early 20th century

Tape: 1 Story: 6 - Jack Johnson talks about his mother's education

Tape: 1 Story: 7 - Jack Johnson describes his family's land in Edisto Island, South Carolina

Tape: 1 Story: 8 - Jack Johnson recalls his mother's adoption of a Haitian refugee

Tape: 1 Story: 9 - Jack Johnson describes his father's family background

Tape: 2 Story: 1 - Jack Johnson describes his paternal great-grandfather

Tape: 2 Story: 2 - Jack Johnson talks about his great-uncle's nickname

Tape: 2 Story: 3 - Jack Johnson recalls spending time with his paternal grandfather

Tape: 2 Story: 4 - Jack Johnson describes his father's occupation

Tape: 2 Story: 5 - Jack Johnson talks about his father's education

Tape: 2 Story: 6 - Jack Johnson lists his siblings

Tape: 2 Story: 7 - Jack Johnson recalls how his parents met

Tape: 2 Story: 8 - Jack Johnson describes the sights and sounds of his childhood

Tape: 2 Story: 9 - Jack Johnson describes his earliest childhood memories

Tape: 2 Story: 10 - Jack Johnson remembers his home on Wadmalaw Island, South Carolina

Tape: 3 Story: 1 - Jack Johnson describes the Gullah language and culture

Tape: 3 Story: 2 - Jack Johnson recalls listening to the radio as a young boy

Tape: 3 Story: 3 - Jack Johnson talks about traditional Gullah foods

Tape: 3 Story: 4 - Jack Johnson describes Rockville Elementary School in Wadmalaw Island, South Carolina

Tape: 3 Story: 5 - Jack Johnson recalls starting a year early at Rockville Elementary School

Tape: 3 Story: 6 - Jack Johnson remembers his teachers at Rockville Elementary School

Tape: 3 Story: 7 - Jack Johnson describes himself as a student

Tape: 3 Story: 8 - Jack Johnson recalls attending Haut Gap High School in Johns Island, South Carolina

Tape: 4 Story: 1 - Jack Johnson describes his activities at Haut Gap High School in Johns Island, South Carolina

Tape: 4 Story: 2 - Jack Johnson recalls his decision to attend Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina

Tape: 4 Story: 3 - Jack Johnson remembers avoiding the U.S. Army draft

Tape: 4 Story: 4 - Jack Johnson describes his experiences at Benedict College

Tape: 4 Story: 5 - Jack Johnson recalls Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination

Tape: 4 Story: 6 - Jack Johnson remembers the guest speakers at Benedict College

Tape: 4 Story: 7 - Jack Johnson recalls working for Equitable Life Assurance Society of America

Tape: 4 Story: 8 - Jack Johnson remembers joining the U.S. Army Reserve

Tape: 4 Story: 9 - Jack Johnson recalls befriending a white South Carolinian in the U.S. Army

Tape: 4 Story: 10 - Jack Johnson talks about his decision to attend Howard University School of Law

Tape: 5 Story: 1 - Jack Johnson describes his experiences at Howard University School of Law in Washington, D.C.

Tape: 5 Story: 2 - Jack Johnson remembers Howard University president James Cheek

Tape: 5 Story: 3 - Jack Johnson remembers his classmates at Howard University School of Law

Tape: 5 Story: 4 - Jack Johnson recalls working for the Internal Revenue Service in Atlanta, Georgia

Tape: 5 Story: 5 - Jack Johnson remembers joining the Internal Revenue Service's national office

Tape: 5 Story: 6 - Jack Johnson describes his work in partnerships and corporation transactions

Tape: 5 Story: 7 - Jack Johnson talks about challenges for African American lawyers at the Internal Revenue Service

Tape: 5 Story: 8 - Jack Johnson remembers teaching at North Carolina Central University School of Law in Durham, North Carolina

Tape: 5 Story: 9 - Jack Johnson recalls working in admissions at North Carolina Central University in Durham, North Carolina

Tape: 6 Story: 1 - Jack Johnson describes his wife and children

Tape: 6 Story: 2 - Jack Johnson recalls serving as the deputy to the state's attorney in Prince George's County, Maryland

Tape: 6 Story: 3 - Jack Johnson talks about running for state's attorney

Tape: 6 Story: 4 - Jack Johnson remembers addressing police brutality in Prince George's County, Maryland

Tape: 6 Story: 5 - Jack Johnson recalls his success as state's attorney of Prince George's County, Maryland

Tape: 6 Story: 6 - Jack Johnson describes his concept of a livable community, pt. 1

Tape: 6 Story: 7 - Jack Johnson describes his concept of a livable community, pt. 2

Tape: 6 Story: 8 - Jack Johnson talks about the opportunities and challenges in Prince George's County, Maryland

Tape: 6 Story: 9 - Jack Johnson recalls being scrutinized by the media

Tape: 6 Story: 10 - Jack Johnson remembers his family's Sunday traditions

Tape: 6 Story: 11 - Jack Johnson reflects upon his life

Tape: 7 Story: 1 - Jack Johnson shares a message for future generations

Tape: 7 Story: 2 - Jack Johnson describes how he would like to be remembered

DASession

1$1

DATape

6$6

DAStory

2$4

DATitle

Jack Johnson recalls serving as the deputy to the state's attorney in Prince George's County, Maryland

Jack Johnson remembers addressing police brutality in Prince George's County, Maryland

Transcript

And after I left the, the teaching [at North Carolina Central University School of Law, Durham, North Carolina], my classmate, one of my schoolmates rather, a guy by the name of Alexander Williams [Alexander Williams, Jr.], ran for state's attorney in Prince George's County. And as Prince George's County is the second largest county in the State of Maryland and at, at that time, you begin to have the migration of the middle class African Americans from the District of Columbia [Washington, D.C.]. And many of them were migrating east into Prince George's County, so the numbers were changing. And one night, Alex came to my home and said, "Look, I'm going to run for state's attorney, and I would like for you to be involved in my campaign, and I would like for you to be the treasurer." He knew of my financial background. And so, I jumped at the opportunity to help him out. And, but as the campaign evolved, I got more and more involved in the campaign, not only in terms of treasurer, but running a lot of the day to day activities. And after the--we won, and it was, it, it was just a transforming victory for Prince George's County. It was the first time that they had elected an African American countywide, and this was really a big shift in politics. Alex asked me to come in and be his deputy. And so, so the chance to do something different like that was exciting. And so, I went in, and I ran the office for him--ran the budget, got involved in all of the criminal justice issues; worked in the community.$(Simultaneous) And so, when I got into the, the office, we begin to chal- not challenge, but take on the whole issue of police brutality. Our police department had a reputation for that, and it was well known, and probably deserved. And so, that was a really challenging prosecution, but not so much in terms of the prosecution, but the politics of it. I didn't realize, at the time, how the--institutionally, the police get so much support from all the politicians in the state, all the institutions, the newspapers--you have it, and the, and the judges, and the whole criminal justice system. And so, that those cases were very challenging and, in fact, the first case that I charged, I could not get anyone in the office to prosecute the case. So, we had to--I end up firing two of the, the lawyers for failing to carry out their constitutional duties to, to ensure that justice is served fairly. And, and that, interestingly, there is a guy that I had met named Lloyd Johnson, last name--he called me. He was a prosecutor. He said, "Jack [HistoryMaker Jack Johnson], if you hire me, I'll, I'll try the cases." And so, I hired Lloyd, and Lloyd came on, and tried those cases. We had a number of all the cases. And then, I set out to, to make certain that the face of the office represented the face of Prince George's County [Maryland]. And so, we began to hire a lot of young African American lawyers. And there were lots of criticism by the media claiming that my lawyers were not as well qualified as traditional lawyers had been, and those kinds of things. But not only were they well qualified, they were more qualified, and they've all done so well over the years. And so, those were the, the eight years of my prosecution years.$$What was the makeup of the police department?$$Well, they were probably getting 40 percent African American at the time, pretty close to it, at least 30 percent. But the, the, it was kind of interesting how so many of the African Americans, or a number of them, had taken on that whole custom. And so, when I talked about prosecution, I had to prosecute black officers, as well as white officers. It wasn't that--$$Okay, okay (simultaneous).$$--(simultaneous) we were prosecuting only white officers.$$Um-hm.

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