Leroy Johnson, 27 February 2007.
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@ Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies
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Leroy Reginald Johnson was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on July 28, 1928. He earned a bachelor's degree from Morehouse College and a master's degree from Atlanta University in 1951. He taught social science in Atlanta public schools from 1950 to 1954, before he decided to obtain a law degree from North Carolina Central University in 1957. In 1957, Johnson became the first African-American to be hired by the Fulton County solicitor general's office. He worked as a criminal investigator from 1957 to 1962. Georgia's county unit system was overturned in 1962, and that resulted in a predominately African-American Fulton County senate district. Johnson won the seat in 1962, making him the first African-American in the legislature since 1907, rising to chair the Judiciary Committee. In 1970, Johnson helped to stage a boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Jerry Quarry in Atlanta, which saw Ali reclaim the title of heavyweight champion. Johnson ran unsuccessfully in 1973 and 1974 for mayor of Atlanta. For several years, he was executive director of the Atlanta-Fulton County Recreation Authority, stepping down in 1987. Johnson's portrait was hung, in 1996, on the third floor of the state capitol near the senate chamber, where he served for twelve years. During the 2000 legislative session, the senate unanimously passed a resolution renaming a portion of Fulton Industrial Boulevard as Leroy Johnson-Fulton Industrial Boulevard.In this interview Leroy Johnson discusses his career in the Georgia senate beginning in 1963. He addresses his rise to chair of the Judiciary Committee, his...
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Short, Bob, 1932
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