JOHNSON, Whittington B. 1931-

PERSONAL: Born April 29, 1931, in Miami, FL; son of Joseph Blake (a mattress maker) and Lucille Marie (a domestic worker; maiden name, Bain; present surname, Milton) Johnson; married Juanita Simpkins, September, 1955 (divorced, March, 1959); married Vivian Page, May, 1959 (divorced, June, 1966); married Imogene Smith, June 26, 1966; children: Terrance (deceased), Toni Thomas, Traci-Leigh Johnson Curran, Todd. Ethnicity: "African American." Education: West Virginia State College, B.A., 1953; Indiana University—Bloomington, M.A.T., 1957; University of Georgia, Ph.D., 1970. Politics: Democrat. Religion: Episcopalian.

ADDRESSES: Home—Miami, FL. Offıce—Department of History, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33124. E-mail—wjohnson@miami.edu.

CAREER: Edward Waters College, Jacksonville, FL, instructor in social science, 1957-62; Savannah State College (now University), Savannah, GA, assistant professor of social science, 1962-67; University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, associate professor, 1970-95, professor of history, 1995—, department chair, 1976-77, 2000-02, director of Afro-American Studies Center, 1972-73. Wisconsin State University (now University of Wisconsin—Superior), guest lecturer, 1972. Civil Rights Museum, Savannah, member of board of directors. Military service: U.S. Army, airborne marksman, 1953-55; became first lieutenant.

MEMBER: Society for Historians of the Early American Republic, Southern Historical Association, Phi Kappa Phi (president, 1986-87), Omicron Delta Kappa, Phi Alpha Theta, Golden Key, Iron Arrow.

AWARDS, HONORS: Recipient of plaque for dedicated service to education, Dade County Commission, 1972; named Educator of the Year, Zeta Phi Beta, 1975; named Professor of the Year, Phi Eta Sigma, 1979; Max Orovitz summer fellow, 1981, 1987, 1988, 2000; named Social Science Professor of the Year, 1984; named Professor of the Year, College of Arts and Sciences Alumni Association, 1984; Southern Regional Education fellow, 1988; excellence in teaching award, 1994; Mac Lamore summer award, 1995.

WRITINGS:

The Promising Years, 1750-1830: The Emergence of Black Labor and Business, Garland Publishing (New York, NY), 1993.

Black Savannah, 1788-1864, University of Arkansas Press (Fayetteville, AR), 1996.

Race Relations in the Bahamas, 1784-1834: The Nonviolent Transformation from a Slave to a Free Society, University of Arkansas Press (Fayetteville, AR), 2000.

Contributor to reference books. Contributor of articles and reviews to periodicals, including American Historical Review, Journal of Negro Education, Florida Historical Quarterly, Richmond County History, Journal of the Early American Republic, Gulf Coast Historical Review, Journal of Negro History, Georgia Historical Quarterly, Southern University Law Review, and Journal of the Bahamas Historical Society.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Race Relations in the Bahamas, 1834-1865.

SIDELIGHTS: Whittington B. Johnson once told CA: "I entered graduate school at the University of Georgia in the fall of 1967 with the goal of earning a doctorate and returning to Savannah State College, where I worked, to continue teaching history to students who may enroll at that institution. By the time I had completed my course work, however, I knew that just teaching history would not be enough for me; I want to both teach and write history, because creating knowledge is as important to me as disseminating it. In short, I write history to contribute to the corpus of knowledge on the subject. In this small way, I hope to justify the time God has given to me, on this wonderful planet we call earth."