Johnson, Albert J.

Albert J. Johnson was born in Denmark in 1880 and immigrated to the United States after he was orphaned. He arrived in Fairbanks in 1905 and worked as a photographer there until 1914. In 1910, he married Jennie Landers and their daughter, Alice, was born in 1912. In 1914, the family moved to California to farm. From 1916-1918, however, Johnson worked in Alaska as an official government photographer for the Alaska Engineering Commission. These photographs depict the creation of Nenana as a townsite. Johnson also took a number of photographs of the Nome area and the daily lives of the Native people living there. By 1919, Johnson and his family had moved to Oakland, California where he operated a portrait gallery. In 1923, Johnson was diagnosed with throat cancer and died in 1926 at age 47.

Albert J. Johnson was born in Harlem, New York. He attended the University of California, Berkeley and also studied at Oxford University and the Shakespeare Institute in Stratford, England. He was a film critic and historian, and, in 1965, became the program director for the San Francisco International Film Festival. He was also a faculty member in the African American Studies Department at the University of California, Berkeley.

Albert Johnson was born in Denmark in 1880 and immigrated to America as an orphan. He worked and lived at a New York bakery and slept in the ovens during the winter to stay warm. It is unknown how he came to be in Fairbanks, where he lived from 1905 to 1914. He also lived in Nenana, 1916 to 1918. From 1916 to 1918 he was one of the official photographers for the Alaskan Engineering Commission and worked on a special assignment, documenting the beginnings of the town of Nenana in photographs. He met and married Jennie Landers with whom he had a daughter, Alice. In 1914 they moved to McKinleyville, Cal. and later Oakland where he operated a successful portrait gallery, returning to the North to work. Johnson documented Eskimo life near Nome, walrus hunting, village activities and modes of travel by coastal Natives. His wife and daughter also became favorite subjects. He traveled often, photographing everyday life with an 8 x 10 inch field camera but also worked in other sizes. His photography studio was first located at 290 1st Avenue in Fairbanks and later moved to 3rd Avenue near Cushman Street. Johnson died in California at age 47, in 1926. Other Johnson photographs may be found in the Alaskan Engineering Commission Collection, PCA 131.[From: Peter Palmquist, Alaska Journal, 1981.].