J ohn 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 d egrees 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
