Uncrowned Community Builders

I learned about Grace Claiborne Johnson a week ago and I am still reeling from what I heard. Over the past eight years, my colleague and I have uncovered Uncrowned Queens in myriad places. On Thursday, March 15, we found that remnants of the life of Grace Claiborne Johnson had been discovered at a dumpster in rural Virginia. My friend and colleague Rudolph Lewis who is the owner of the Chicken Bone Journal at http://www.nathanielturner.com/poemforgraceclaibornejohnson.htm found newspaper articles about her, a battered photo in a newspaper, some framed certificates sitting neatly by the dumpster. Rudolph reasons that perhaps the person who bought up the last remnants of Grace Claiborne Johnsonââ?¬â?¢s life could not bring himself to totally obliterate her memory. So he set up a makeshift memorial of sorts. Rudolph found it and decided to tell her story.

When I got his email, Rudolph and I talked about what we had read of Graceââ?¬â?¢s life and we both wept silently about our own fears of having the artifacts of our own lives thrown out by our families and friends and deposited at the local dump. Barbara and I have our own stories of rushing to the home of an Uncrowned Queen here in Buffalo, shortly after strangers with a flatbed truck started hauling out the photos and papers in green garbage bags and tossing them onto the truck rushing to get to the dump. As we watched the men walk over the photographs that had fallen from the boxes, we could see the footprints left on the photos that remained on the floor. Some stuck to the heels of the workers as they went back and forth from the back of the truck to the third floor and back again as if they just could not leave. It was heart breaking.

We decided to honor Grace Claiborne Johnson-Goodwyn as the first Uncrowned Queen who actually got rescued at the trash dump. She was truly a "flower for the trashman." We would love to have more information on Ms. Johnson-Goodwyn so that we can tell her story in greater detail. Please contact us at uqi@buffalo.edu or bertram@buffalo.edu Peggy Brooks-Bertram

Flowers for the Trashman
for Grace Claiborne Johnson

At 91 she's a Jet achiever,
her fourth graduate degree from VSU"
novelist, artist, dancer, a teacherââ?¬"
a published poet's a Renaissance woman.

I found the artifacts of her long life
at a dumpster's two framed certificates
of "appreciation"; a framed clipping
from a Petersburg paper; framed artwork.

How came this poet to this ugliness, I
wondered? A white man & his wife pulled down
her skeletal life from a bought trailer.
By frames, they set her up against a wall
thinking some soul might find a home for her.
I'll shed no tears: all beauty comes to dust.

13 March 2007

Rudolph Lewis, Editor
ChickenBones: A Journal
Awards

Grace Claiborne Johnson-Goodwyn was not a woman without awards and recognitions. On February 25, 1995 she received a Certificate of Appreciation for outstanding service and contributions during the Black History Celebration at Olive Branch Baptist Church, Dinwiddie, Virginia presided over by Rev. Alfred L. Thompson. She received another Certificate of Appreciation from the National Association of African-American Studies She was identified as a ââ?¬Å?true African-American Artist, who has distinguished herself in the area of dance, drama, music, and creative writing. A stalwart supporter of her community, Petersburg, Virginia, she is Founder of the Petersburg Girls Choir, The Royal Festival Theatre, and many other groups. February, 1995.
Grace was also celebrated in local newspapers in her hometown:
Local lady named model for others

Petersburg " in many cases the intangible selfless gifts offered by saints go unnoticed and unrewarded.

But thanks to area residents, one local woman who has spent a lifetime giving back to the children and adults of her community will receive special recognition. Norma Jean Blalock, of WTVR Channel 6 said from what I've read about Grace Claiborne Johnson "she sounds like a wonderful lady." And Johnson is just that.

The lifelong Petersburg resident is known as a writer, author, teacher, musician, poet, artist, and storyteller "and, of course, a mother, grandmother and great grandmother. Friday at 6 p.m., Johnson will be spotlighted as one of eight Central Virginians selected by Channel 6 and Consolidated Bank as this year's Excellence in Community, African-American Role Model. Blalock said hundreds of names were nominated, yet only eight are named winners by the selection committee.

As part of her recognition, a news article featuring Johnson will appear in For Kid's Sake magazine, and her story, along with the other winners, will once again run Saturday, March 4. Anyone who has lived in the Petersburg area during the years has probably at some time come in contact with Johnson.

As a small child of 12, Johnson was the beautician of Delectable Heights, as well as the teacher.
My mother taught me to read when I was 4, she said. By the time I was 12, I was teaching adults in the neighborhood to read. Additionally, as a child Johnson's mother insisted that she take a cosmetology class because, eventually you may need it. Those lessons led Johnson into cutting hair and later sewing dresses.

I was always a momma's girl, she said. While everyone else was out with their boyfriends, I was at home with my momma reading and writing, cooking and sewing. Johnson, the mother of two, grandmother of 10 and great-grandmother of seven. is a retired Surry County educator who holds a master's degree in early childhood education. She assisted in implementing Surry County's remedial reading program and was also part of the drama and speech department. Closer to home, Johnson opened one of the city's first daycare centers in Delectable Heights. Johnson is the brains behind the Petersburg Girl's Choir and the Royale Festival Theater of Petersburg.

In her spare time, Johnson has published several books including one of poetry, sitting in the Window Looking Out, a historical novel ââ?¬Å?Great and Honorable Departure,ââ?¬ and ââ?¬Å?Sootie Lu,ââ?¬ a novel of ugliness turned to beauty and an additional novel centers around harassment. In February, during Black history Month, Johnson is slated to speak at Powhatanââ?¬â?¢s Beaumont Correctional Facility ââ?¬Å?to the men,ââ?¬ she said. The Petersburg resident is also a member of St. Stephens Episcopal and participates in radio talk shows at Virginia State University. By Kim Coghill
Source: The Petersburg Monitor February 1, 1995
Woman at 91 receives master's degree

Education - Grace Claiborne Johnson-Goodwyn, historian

Grace Claiborne Johnson-Goodwyn, 91, recently received her Master of Arts degree in history from Virginia State University (VSU).

This is Johnson-Goodwyn's fourth graduate degree. "I love it," said Johnson-Goodwyn, a former elementary school reading teacher. "Next year I'd like to go for another. One of the teachers said, `Grace, go over there to Richmond and take law.' I would do it if it wasn't for the driving."

Johnson-Goodwyn's journey began when she graduated from VSU with her bachelor's degree in 1946. Since she retired from teaching, she has written a book of poetry and two novels and a fourth book is in the works. She said she decided to be a historian, so she returned to VSU in 1997 to further her education.

Virginia Governor Mark R. Warner spoke at the graduation and characterized Johnson-Goodwyn, a Petersburg native, as a true hero for her educational persistence. "She gives a whole new meaning to the phrase lifelong learning," said Warner, who was honored by VSU with an honorary doctor of law degree.

Joseph Goldenberg, chairman of VSU's history department said, "She's been very persistent. We have a foreign language requirement, and she got through two years of Spanish. It's not easy to learn a foreign language at that age."

Goldenberg said the sight of Johnson-Goodwyn slowly making her way to the classroom with the aid of a cane inspired classmates who were 70 years younger.

COPYRIGHT 2002 Johnson Publishing Co.

Source: Jet, May 27, 2002