Panel discussion co-sponsored by the Bishop Joseph Johnson History Project along with the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center at Vanderbilt University
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The Bishop Joseph Johnson History Project exists to celebrate the remarkable life of Bishop Joseph A. Johnson, Jr., the first African American to graduate from Vanderbilt University. He was also a bishop in the Christian Methodist Episcopal (CME) Church, a noted scholar and pioneer in the field of black theology, as well as a civil rights advocate in Louisiana.
Our purpose is to sponsor projects and programs that tell his life story and that preserve the history of his family and the institutions with which he was affiliated. We also seek to preserve Bishop Johnson’s books, sermons, and papers and to meet the continuing demand for his works that persists over 40 years after his death.
The Bishop Joseph Johnson History Project is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization founded in 2013 by Rev. Cynthia Johnson-Oliver, granddaughter of Bishop Johnson. A graduate of Harvard College, Harvard Divinity School, and Yale Law School, Rev. Johnson-Oliver is an ordained elder in the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church.
Rev. Johnson-Oliver is currently writing a biography and producing a documentary film about Bishop Johnson’s life and legacy. She has received grants from the Lily Endowment (via the Louisville Institute) and Vanderbilt University to support these projects.
If you have information or memories to share about the life of Bishop Johnson, click here to send a message or schedule an interview with Rev. Cynthia Johnson-Oliver.
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