John Chester Johnson was born on September 28, 1944, in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and grew up in Monticello, Drew County, Arkansas.
He attended Harvard College and earned degrees in English and history from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. After graduation, Johnson moved back to Monticello to teach at an all-African American high school.
After moving to New York City, he began working at Moody's Investors Services and later at J. P. Morgan. In addition to his finance career, Johnson has become a prominent poet, best known for his poem "St. Paul's Chapel." He also worked with W. H. Auden on the retranslations of the Psalms for The Book of Common Prayer. In 2010, Johnson received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Arkansas.
#1: Composite image of early photo of J. Chester Johnson and still frame from Pryor Center video interview
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#2: Chester Johnson's great-grandfather, Samuel Decatur Hanna, who fought for the North in the Civil War, pictured here in his uniform; Hanna died at age 90 on November 16, 1924, in Caddo Gap, Arkansas
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#3: Portrait of Chester Johnson's mother, Opal Birch Johnson, at age 21, ca. 1931
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#4: Portrait of Chester Johnson at 6 months; Galveston, Texas, 1945
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#5: Chester Johnson with his father, John Johnson (right); his brother, John Maxie Johnson (center); his uncle, Paul Johnson; cousin, Sam Paul Johnson
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#6: Chester Johnson as a baby with his mother, Opal Birch Johnson, and his brother, John Maxie Johnson, ca. 1945
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#7: Chester Johnson (lower right) with his paternal grandparents and other family members; Wilmar, Arkansas, ca. 1946
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#8: Chester Johnson standing in front of his brother, John Maxie Johnson, with their aunt, Kathleen Johnson, and cousins, Paula and Sam Paul Johnson; Monticello, Arkansas
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#9: Chester Johnson (left) and his brother, John Maxie Johnson, posing with their Easter baskets; Little Rock, Arkansas, ca. 1948
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#10: Chester Johnson in the first grade at age 6
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#11: Chester Johnson (2nd row from top, 2nd from right) with his second-grade class and teacher, Ms. Edna Carmichel; Easter, 1952
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#12: Chester Johnson in his Little League uniform, 1953
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#13: Chester Johnson at age 10 in the backyard of their home; Monticello, Arkansas, 1954
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#14: Chester Johnson (left) with his brother, John Maxie Johnson, and mother, Opal Birch Johnson, in his paternal grandmother's backyard; Monticello, Arkansas, ca. 1957
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#15: Portrait of J. Chester Johnson at age 14 while serving as a US Congressional page; 1957-1958
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#16: Chester Johnson (seated, 2nd from right), celebrating in a rooming house with other pages while serving as a US Congressional page; Washington, DC, 1958
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#17: Chester Johnson as a student at the University of Arkansas
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#18: "St. Paul's Chapel" by J. Chester Johnson from St. Paul's Chapel & Selected Shorter Poems; published by St. Johann Press
© Copyright 2006 by J. Chester Johnson; Second printing 2010
#19: J. Chester Johnson; Poetry reading at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville; October 28, 2011
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#20: Still frame from Pryor Center video interview with J. Chester Johnson at the Pryor Center on the University of Arkansas campus; Fayetteville, Arkansas, 2010
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#21: Still frame from Pryor Center video interview with J. Chester Johnson at the Pryor Center on the University of Arkansas campus; Fayetteville, Arkansas, 2010
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
