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James Johnson Jr. Attends Page's School

James Johnson Jr. Attends Page's School/tiles/collection/7/7790.xml
James Johnson Jr. Attends Page's School/tiles/collection/3/33965.xml
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Date

1959-03-03

Maker

Associated Press Wirephoto

Dimensions

8 × 10 in. (20.3 × 25.4 cm)

Accession Number

PA2013.04.0001

Credit Line

Collection of the U.S. House of Representatives

Object Details

James Johnson Jr. came to Washington expecting to be the House's first African-American Page in the 20th century but was denied an appointment. Appalled, a coalition of five Representatives agreed to hire Johnson to work one day a week in each of their offices. The combined hours and pay enabled him to attend the Capitol Page School, where he graduated near the top of his class.

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James Johnson describes the race and class divisions that transformed Chicago neighborhoods and school boundaries in the 1950s.

James A. Johnson Jr, Page, U.S. House of Representatives
Interview recorded October 24, 2019 – Deed of Gift
Transcript (PDF)

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Office of the Historian: history@mail.house.gov
Office of Art & Archives, Office of the Clerk: art@mail.house.gov, archives@mail.house.gov