Mr. Johnson is the founder, publisher, and chairman of Johnson Publishing Company, the world’s largest African-American owned publishing Company.  He is also the publisher of Ebony and Jet Magazines.  Ebony alone has a circulation of 1.7 million people and reaches 11 million readers monthly.

In 1982, Mr Johnson was the first African American to be named on Forbes’ list of the 400 wealthiest Americans.  Mr. Johnson’s long list of awards and achievements include:  the Black Journalists’ Lifetime Achievement Award in 1987, the Wall Street Journal/Dow Jones Entrepreneurial Excellence Award in 1993, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1996 – the highest honor this nation gives to a citizen, the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame Award in 2001, The Vanguard Award in 2002, and The Trumpet Award in 2002.  

Arkansas City and the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff have worked together to create the John H. Johnson Cultural and Education Museum.  On Saturday, May 21st, this museum will be dedicated in Desha County, Arkansas.  This museum will capture Mr. Johnson’s life by restoring his boyhood home and will include period memorabilia, printed material, and video chronicles about Mr. Johnson’s life.

In addition to the museum, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff is in the planning stages of opening a learning center in Arkansas City and an academic complex at the University of Arkansas of Pine Bluff.  These institutions will undoubtedly become a tremendous asset and staple of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.  

I am honored to recognize Mr. Johnson, and am delighted that the John H. Johnson Cultural Education Museum will be open for Arkansans to see firsthand Mr. Johnson’s lifetime of work and contributions to our nation.  His dedication, entrepreneurial spirit, and legacy will continue in Arkansas for the years and decades ahead.