Douglas and Shirley R. Johnson Papers

Douglas and Shirley Reinwald Johnson met while students at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, and were married following their graduation in June 1940. In 1947, they moved to Oberlin, Ohio, where they were active in local government and community issues since their arrival. Douglas and Shirley R. Johnson became life members of the Oberlin Historical and Improvement Organization (O.H.I.O.). They adopted two children, Eric Charles Johnson (1950) and Emily Agnes (Mullins) Johnson (1953).

Douglas R. Johnson was born to Raymond C. and Alpha Nordseth Johnson on July 1, 1917, in St. Peter, Minnesota. He graduated from Butte (Montana) High School in 1934, and graduated from Antioch College with a B.S. in civil engineering in 1940. At a time when most men were entering the armed services to fight in World War II, Johnson declared himself a conscientious objector and remained in Yellow Springs to work with the Civilian Public Service Corps on soil conservation projects with the United States Forest Service, the National Park Service, and the Soil Conservation Service. When he was discharged in 1946 he supervised construction on a new dormitory designed for Antioch College.

In 1947, Douglas and Shirley R. Johnson moved to Oberlin, Ohio. Doug had taken a job as a manager (with fellow Antioch graduate Max Ratner) of the Lorain Veterans Housing Association, a cooperative housing project in Lorain, Ohio, under the auspices of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). The housing project was based on another AFSC venture, the Penn-Craft Community in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, and built 30 homes on Meister Road in Lorain in the 1950s. This was a self-help housing project that consisted of steel workers and other veterans under the teaching, supervision and management of Johnson and Ratner. These workers built their own houses and performed all tasks necessary for building except excavation.

In 1950 Douglas Johnson passed the Ohio State Board exam for architectural registration. Over the next fifteen years, he designed and supervised the construction of housing and other building projects in Oberlin and the Cleveland area. From 1955 to 1965 he was the Cleveland area construction supervisor for the Berea firm of Mellenbrook, Foley, & Scott, Architects. In 1965, Doug Johnson became Facilities Manager at Gilford Instrument Laboratories, a manufacturer of medical diagnostic systems based in Oberlin. He remained at Gilford until his retirement in 1985.

Douglas was an Oberlin city councilman for three terms from 1966 to 1971. He also served on numerous city boards, including the Fair Housing Committee (as treasurer), Planning Commission (as chairman), and Building Code Committee. As chairman of the Low Income Housing Committee, he was instrumental in getting 100 public housing units, including a 50-unit elderly housing high-rise, built in Oberlin. In 1987, Douglas campaigned unsuccessfully for a seat on the Oberlin School Board.

In 1984 Douglas Johnson began serving on the Public Library Planning Committee, and in 1986 he became a member of the library's New Buildings Committee. He served on the boards of the Oberlin Consumer's Co-operative (1992-96) and the Bill Long Foundation (1992-95), and was the area coordinator for Common Cause, a citizens group concerned with congressional funding and ethics.  Douglas traveled and made visits overseas and elsewhere in the United States. His travels included trips to England, France, Norway, Italy, Greece, the Galapagos Islands, and Antarctica.

Shirley Reinwald was born on July 15, 1917 in Chicago, Illinois, and grew up in Chicago and Flushing, New York. Her mother, Agnes Stella Garrity, died in 1918, a year after Shirley was born. Her maternal grandmother raised her until age four and a half when her father remarried. While she was in high school, she became interested in civil liberties issues and wanted to become a criminal lawyer. Her father, Charles A. Reinwald, a corporate lawyer, discouraged this goal, since a career in criminal law would be difficult for a woman in the early 1940s.

Shirley graduated from Flushing High School in 1935 and entered Antioch College, where she worked to eliminate the separate governance systems for men and women. After receiving a B.A. in education in 1940, she married Douglas Johnson. She then taught in Antioch's Lab School for four years and was also an instructor in the College’s Education Department. Shirley has taken continuing education courses at Kent State University and the Ohio State University.

The Johnsons' involvement in local issues continued soon after they settled in Oberlin. During a contentious school board election in the late 1940s, a local kindergarten teacher asked Shirley Johnson to attend a school board meeting.  At that time before Ohio's sunshine laws required open meetings, visitors were not welcomed at school board meetings. Shirley persisted, however, and was a force in making the meetings open to the public. She continued to attend school board meetings and became increasingly active in the Oberlin School District.  She served on committees, including the Citizens Committee for Public Schools in the 1960s and the Superintendent's Advisory Committee in the 1980s, and also worked on levy campaigns. The Principal and Superintendant Advisory Committees were part of her OOEA responsibilities. Shirley took detailed notes at the school board meetings for over 50 years and donated many of these documents to the Oberlin College Archives.

In 1960, Shirley R. Johnson became a substitute teacher in the Oberlin Public Schools. She started working as a learning disabilities tutor in 1972 and eventually became a special education teacher in 1987. She retired from teaching in 1993.

As a board member of the League of Women Voters, Shirley Johnson worked on various research studies on topics including civil liberties, the municipal court, school finance, social services, and taxes. In the early 1960s, she also attended the Oberlin Municipal Court as an observer to record the court proceedings.

Douglas and Shirley Johnson were involved with the American Civil Liberties Union affiliated chapter in Yellow Springs, and in 1952 they became charter members of the Oberlin chapter of the ACLU (the Oberlin chapter later became the North Central Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio). Shirley Johnson served the chapter as secretary, treasurer, and general liaison at various time and was named a life member of the board in the early 1980s. She also served on the board of the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio in the 1980s and 1990s.

Shirley was a member of the Oberlin Public Library Board for thirteen years in the 1960s and 70s, and served as chair for three years. During her tenure she opened board meetings and records to public scrutiny and encouraged library staff to participate.

In 1971-72, Shirley volunteered on Ralph Nader's Who Runs Congress survey. For this study she interviewed community leaders and Congressman Charles A. Mosher's staff. The Johnsons also worked on several political campaigns for Donald J. Pease, including his state house and congressional campaigns between 1964 and 1990.

Shirley R. Johnson was the recipient of numerous awards, including the Civil Liberties Award from the ACLU of Ohio (1977); Antioch Alumni Association Arthur Morgan Award for commitment to the community (1991); the Oberlin Ohio Education Association's award for contributions to education (1984); Oberlin School District recognition award (1986); Oberlin Board of Education Certificate of Appreciation (1994); and the Oberlin College Award for Distinguished Service to the Community (1995). The Johnsons were community associates for Oberlin College students for several years.

Shirley R. Johnson was also an observer at Lorain County Commissioners meetings beginning in 1997 where she and her husband were instrumental in getting their meetings to allow public participation on a regular basis. Shirley also continued to monitor their compliance with Ohio’s Open Records and Meeting Law.

Douglas R. Johnson died on July 24, 2009. Shirley R. Johnson passed away on January 11, 2013.

Sources Consulted

Douglas and Shirley R. Johnson Papers (RG 30/279).

Douglas and Shirley R. Johnson provided additional information and additional comments.

The Chronicle Telegram, July 28, 2009.

Lorain County Journal, Saturday, July 9, 1988.

Oberlin News-Tribune, January 17, 2013.