More than ten years ago, I created this digital space to share my research findings which began with Rachel H. Flowers. It shifted to other scholarly projects, including my research on Flowers’ niece, Geraldine L. Wilson, and now the history of Friends of Children of Mississippi, a grassroots antipoverty organization established in 1966. I aim to return to weekly posts through these end-of-the-week research posts and perhaps some valuable posts for researchers and graduate students on project management, writing, and conducting oral histories.
research journal, note 1: Mrs. Garlee Johnson
I first encountered Mrs. Garlee Johnson’s name in Geraldine Wilson’s archive at the Schomburg Center. Mrs. Johnson appeared as a participant in Wilson’s Black Awareness and Consciousness Workshop, which she led for Friends of Children. In December 1968, she arrived at the workshop as the community development specialists for Clarke County, located in east central Mississippi. The workshop aimed to lead teachers and area specialists in knowing Black history. Wilson noted, “Knowing the history of Black people will help us answer those important questions: Who are we? Where did we come from? Where are we going? How do we get there?” Such lessons began with teachers, who would, in turn, instill these lessons in the preschool classroom.
Mrs. Johnson, among other participants, stood out because within Wilson’s archive were their weekly reports, which detailed their reflections on the workshop. I typically open my presentation with a quote from her three-page report. Mrs. Johnson stated,
The work shop was good, all we need to have is lots of them on black Americans. Because I learned a lot about black America those two days I was once in work-shop. Before, if anyone had asked me some abot black American I could not have said anything. Now I think I can talk about it. But if you are never taught you will not ever know.
Mrs. Garlee Johnson, Community Development Specialist, Weekly Report 12/1968 , Geraldine Wilson Papers, Schomburg Center. (left with no corrections to any grammatical mistakes)
After writing about Mrs. Johnson for nearly two years, I came across an image of her on Facebook. Jason Morgan Ward also referenced her in his book, Hanging Bridge: Racial Violence and America’s Civil Rights Century (2020). And now I can finally put a face to a name.
Image description: “Head Start organizer Mrs. Garlee Johnson and Congress of Racial Equality / COFO worker John Otis Sumrall. Quitman, Mississippi, 1966.” Source.
Diary of a Historian 
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