Guy Benton Johnson Papers, 1830-1882, 1901-1987

ArchivalResource

Guy Benton Johnson Papers, 1830-1882, 1901-1987

Guy Benton Johnson Papers, 1830-1882, 1901-1987

http://www2.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/j/Johnson,Guy_Benton.html

Guy Benton Johnson was one of the original research assistants at the Institute for Research in Social Science and joined the faculty of the University of North Carolina in 1927, retiring in 1969. In 1923, he married Guion Griffis, also a social science researcher. They had two sons: Guy Benton Jr. (Benny) (b. 1928) and Edward (b. 1933). The collection consists of papers, mostly correspondence and research project files, relating chiefly to Johnson's work at the University of Chicago and at UNC on the Ku Klux Klan; musical abilities of African-Americans and white Americans; African-American folksongs; the John Henry legend; the folklore and language (Gullah) of Saint Helena Island, S.C.; Lumbee Indians of Robeson County, N.C.; and the desegregation of higher education. Many items relate to his and Guion's participation in the Gunnar Myrdal Study of the American Negro, 1939-1940. There are also materials documenting Johnson's work with the Southern Regional Council, of which he was director in 1944-1947; the North Carolina Council on Human Relations; the Phelps-Stokes Fund; and the Howard University Board of Trustees; and his service to professional sociological organizations. Also included are writings by Johnson, pedagogical materials, photographs and other materials relating to his family in North Carolina and Texas and career. Johnson's correspondents included Langston Hughes, Charles S. Johnson, C.C. Spaulding, H.L. Mencken, Carl van Vechten, W.E.B. Du Bois, Marion Wright, and many other intellectuals, scholars, writers, and activists, both black and white. Audiovisual materials include recordings of speeches, music, and folk tales on audio tapes, audio discs, wax cylinders, and wire recordings, primarily from Johnson's field research on Saint Helena Island, S.C.

20400; 61.0

eng,

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection