“OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE” : HENRIETTA W JOHNSON

Growing up in the Bryant Addition part of Monroe, Louisiana, during my teen years. Me, my brothers, and my brothers from other mothers would often venture from our homes to the local community center. Now that I am older, I appreciate that we had a local recreational center within walking distance, even more than I did back then. We would go there and hangout, play basketball,and some would even play table tennis. The kids would go crazy during the summer when they would open the swimming pool. Come to think of it, when became 18 years of age, I cast my first official Vote there{ I believe that recreational center help saved many of us from the streets }. Sometimes leaving the center, I would look up at the letters on the outside of the building. The letters spelled, Henrietta Windham Johnson Recreation Center. Come to find out that the Center was named for an Outstanding Lady of African descent.Not only that, but she was also a pioneer in Schooling and Civil Rights in Monroe, Louisiana and Ouachita Parish. Henrietta W Johnson was born in Rayville on November 15, 1876. Her parents were Mr & Mrs Lewis Windham . In 1901, she married Principal Arthur Herbert Johnson Sr.( their daughter Henri-Anna would later marry Principal Henry Carroll ). After attending the Wisner School in Franklin Parish, at the tender age of 14,she enrolled in Leland University in New Orleans[ a private institution of higher learning for African Americans ]. Incidentally, Henrietta W Johnson worked with Principal M. J. Foster At The North Louisiana Industrial High School{ that was located on Texas Ave in Monroe,Louisiana }that was created by the Negro 10th District Baptist Association in 1885. By the way, she became the principal of the school when Principal Foster left the school in 1920.During the Great Depression Years in Monroe, Louisiana, Henrietta W Johnson was instrumental in forming a National Youth Association School for unemployed women in Monroe, Louisiana. Additionally, she was a tireless worker with the Monroe Chapter of the NAACP. On top of all her other activities, Henrietta W Johnson was active in the Zion Traveler Baptist Church in Monroe as well as The 10th District Baptist Association. Furthermore, she helped promote and erect The Excelsior Women’s Council House on 11th St in Monroe,Louisiana. For “50 years” Henrietta W Johnson labored as a teacher and educator, and it is fitting that on Sunday April 8, 1962 that they held The Dedication of The Henrietta W Johnson Recreational Center on Burg Jones Lane!