Johnson, Albert, 1869-1957

Born in Vasa, Minn. on August 9, 1865. Taught school in Dakota Territory, worked railroad construction for the Great Northern Railway, and bonanza farming. Moved to Portland, Or. (1887); attended Univ. of Oregon Law School; admitted to bar (1891); returned to Minn. (1901). In his spare time, conducted historical research on pioneer life, western trails, and Indian wars; collector of Indian photographs; resided in Marine-On-St. Croix, Minn.

From the description of Albert W. Johnson papers, 1924-1945 [manuscript]. (Denver Public Library). WorldCat record id: 51763062

Albert Johnson rose from his position as editor of the Daily Washingtonian, based in Hoquiam, Washington, to become one of the most powerful congressional leaders in the United States. In 1913 he was elected to the House of Representatives as a Republican and served in nine succeeding congresses (March 4, 1913-March 3, 1933) until his defeat in the 1932 election when Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Democrats were swept into power. Johnson's congressional career spanned 20 years, climaxing in 1924 with the passage of the Johnson-Reed Act, which applied a stringent quota system to American immigration policies, and is widely regarded as the most important piece of immigration legislation in United States history. The growth of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW, often called "Wobblies") in Grays Harbor proved portentous for the editor, for it gave him a popular plank on which to both launch his political career and expand his publishing empire. Johnson declared himself a candidate for the House of Representatives in early 1912, and received immediate support from numerous parties, including the entire Grays Harbor press corps, the Aberdeen Chamber of Commerce, the Hoquiam Commercial Club, and the dominant regional lumber interests. The election coincided with the 1912 IWW lumber workers' strike, the first of many mass strikes pulled by the Wobblies in Washington's lumber industry. In the general election held that November, Johnson defeated his Democratic, Socialist, and Progressive Party opponents in each of the 13 counties in the district, and drew nearly double the vote of his nearest competition in Grays Harbor, formerly known as Chehalis County. In response to his need to more fully express his anti-radical and anti-immigrant attitudes, Johnson established a second newspaper, the Home Defender, in May 1912. The opening issue of the monthly newspaper described its purpose as: "to take an active part against the spread of radical, revolutionary socialism". Certainly, Johnson was never shy in articulating his hatred of his left-wing rivals in the Washingtonian, but the Home Defender carried "news" and opinions that would have shocked the more subdued Washingtonian subscribers. A sample of his vituperative editorializing came out during the campaign when he uttered: "The greatest menace to the Republic today is the open door it affords to the ignorant hordes from Eastern and Southern Europe, whose lawlessness flourishes and civilization is ebbing into barbarism". Johnson also attacked public officials with reformist sympathies, including J. E. Sinclair, principal of the Lincoln School in Hoquiam, who was labeled a supporter of sabotage by Johnson's new paper. Of course, no attack on socialism could be complete without raising the specter of "free love," which Johnson frequently scored, writing at one point that a socialist couple "has gained admission to the free-love Hall of Fame," for their decision to pursue a divorce. Between 1913 and 1918, Johnson served as a minority member of the House Immigration Committee, where he pursued the study of various racist ideologies, including eugenics (the idea, now repudiated by science, that among Homo sapiens there were superior and inferior genetic types). He served as the chief advocate of these beliefs among his congressional colleagues. He formed friendships with committee members on both sides of the aisle, a fact that certainly aided his crusade against immigrants and radicals when he was appointed chair of the committee in 1919. Although the Hoquiam congressman took every opportunity to excoriate radicals, his legislative activities aimed mostly toward substantive, long-term reform of American immigration policies. In his short biography of Congressman Johnson, Alfred J. Hillier correctly posited that the 1924 bill was "the most important immigration law to be enacted in the history of the country". Its wide-ranging nature can be seen by looking at its impact on Greeks, who came in their greatest numbers to the United States between 1900 and 1920. Under the limitations placed by the 1921 Act, 3,088 Greeks were allowed to enter the United States per year. After the Johnson-Reed Act passed three years later, that number dropped to 100, about 3 percent of the earlier figure. The law's success exceeded even its most optimistic supporters' expectations. In part due to the Johnson-Reed Act, as the legislation was known, from 1924 to 1947, only 2,718,006 immigrants came to the United States. Johnson was swept out of office in the 1932 Democratic Party landslide victory. Following his defeat Johnson returned to his home district and retired from public life. He died in 1957 at the age of 87 in American Lake, Washington. Albert Johnson married Jennie (Smith) Johnson and they had one child, Dorothy.

From the description of Albert Johnson's scrapbooks, 1913-1915. (Washington State Library, Office of Secretary of State). WorldCat record id: 319439595

Albert Johnson’s parents crossed the Plains in 1864 and settled on a farm near Walla Walla, W.T. where he was born in 1867. He worked on the farm until the age of 16, when he went to work in his brother’s butcher shop in Wallula, on the Snake River. In 1890 he left this employment and moved to Spokane Falls, where he worked first for a street railway company and then for the Spokane Falls & Northern Railway. Finally in 1899, he purchased a butcher shop and remained in the business until his retirement in 1935. Johnson had an ongoing interest in the history on eastern Washington and wrote several articles that were published in the Spokesman-Review .

From the guide to the Albert S. Johnson Manuscript, 1945, (Eastern Washington State Historical Society/Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture Joel E. Ferris Research Library and Archives)

Albert Johnson's parents crossed the Plains in 1864 and settled on a farm near Walla Walla, W.T. where he was born in 1867.

He worked on the farm until the age of 16, when he went to work in his brother's butcher shop in Wallula, on the Snake River. In 1890 he left this employment and moved to Spokane Falls, where he worked first for a street railway company and then for the Spokane Falls & Northern Railway. Finally, in 1899, he purchased a butcher shop and remained in the business until his retirement in 1935. Johnson had an ongoing interest in the history of eastern Washington and wrote several articles that were published in the "Spokesman-Review."

From the description of Manuscript, ca. 1945. (Eastern Washington State Historical Society). WorldCat record id: 42688087