Linda Johnson Rice puts it more simply. [50], In 2020, the educational charity consortium which obtained the historic photo archives during the dissolution of the company, appointed an advisory committee, headed by Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden. I want to run a business, says Rogers. As for the future, some say that Rogers may follow in her fathers footsteps and go into politics. She and her parents are generous supporters of the United Negro College Fund. Her manner, which is cool and clipped, matches her appearance. . [32] The buyer, Clear View Group, a private equity firm based in Austin, Texas, created a new publisher called Ebony Media Corp. Smikle founded Target Market News, a Chicago-based service that tracks black consumer power and patterns for the business market. The first headquarters from 1942 until 1943, was inside the Supreme Life Building at 3501 S. Parkway Ave (later renamed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive). That makes Johnson Publishing a vastly influential forum. They are not dependent on any of the men in their livesblack or whitefor their success., They are black women leaders of tremendous value to the city, says Ronne Hartfield, a museum consultant and writer.
A reviewer for the Chicago Tribune wrote that Alis works pare the complexity of power relationships, racism and violence to stick-like figures placed in simple compositions., I doubt that show had anything to do with the resignations, says Ronne Hartfield, a former executive at the Art Institute of Chicago who has been hired as a diversity consultant by the Museum of Contemporary Art. Her father worked for the University of Chicago Hospitals; her mother helped found the Erikson Institute. She is the most politically minded of the three women. His wife, Eunice W. Johnson, was the founder, secretary, treasurer, and director of the Ebony Fashion Fair. In 2016 she sold Ebony, Ebony.com and Jet.com to Clear View Ventures, a Texas-based, black-owned private equity firm that promised to "position the enterprise for long-term growth. Linda Johnson Rice remembers flying to Paris at age 7 for the couture shows with her mother, Eunice Johnson, on a buying trip for the Ebony Fashion Fair. [27], In May 2009, R.R. The assets and liabilities were between $10million and $50million. And she and Rice and their two daughters try to have Sunday dinner together every week. And if I had been unwilling to take a risk and try something completely different, I wouldnt nearly be where I am today., That would be ensconced in the executive vice-presidents office of The Habitat Company, a premier developer and manager of residential apartments, primarily in the Chicago area. People thumbed through its glossy pages for stories of black success and achievement. JPC was privately held and run by Johnson until his death in 2005. Immediately after graduation, Rice became President and COO of Johnson Publishing, until her promotion to CEO in 2002, becoming the first African American female CEO among the 100 largest black-owned companies in the United States. She moved to Chicago in 1986, she says, because it combined both big city sensibilities and graciousness., In 1988, she married John Rogers, and they have a daughter, Victoria, who is ten. Jarrett has been named a senior adviser to Obama and Rogers is said to be in line to be White House social secretary. Now, the differences: Rice is the heir to a dynasty. THE DIGITAL REPOSITORY FOR THE BLACK EXPERIENCE. She is proudest of having won the respect of the Johnson Publishing Companys employees, especially the ones who have been there more than 30 years and have watched her grow up. Finally, she ran the Department of Planning and Development for four years. In 2010, Rice sold the iconic JPC Tower on tony Michigan Avenue (designed by a black man, built for a black man, as locals proudly pointed out), to Columbia College, and moved the staff to smaller quarters. Her father, John H. Johnson is founder of Johnson Publishing Company, and her mother, Eunice Johnson, is producer and director of the Ebony Fashion Fair. Find out where to go, what to eat, where to live, and more. Johnson Publishing Company, Inc. (JPC) was an American publishing company founded in November 1942 by African-American businessman John H. Johnson. But Im not in that situation anymore. According to Kevin Bell, the president and chief executive officer of the Lincoln Park Zoo, Rogers is a prized addition to the zoo board. Chicagos power quotient plummeted when the three women traveled out of town. I mean, this person was almost too irate to write., I send it to the appropriate department to get relevant information. Yet she was unfulfilled. Chairman of Johnson Publishing Linda Johnson Rice will retain a position on the board of the company that bought Jet and Ebony magazine. I am grateful for their efforts on behalf of the museum, and was sorry to lose them as trustees, Fitzpatrick says of the four women. Fashion Fair Cosmetics, the first high-end cosmetics line for women of color to be sold in department stores, was born when Eunice Johnson noticed her models mixing their own makeup shades before they walked the runway. The reunions 10th year milestone coincides with final dismantling of EMPIRE: The House That John H. Johnson Built, as described by University of Illinois at Chicago lecturer and nearly 20-year JPC staffer Margena A. Christian, author of the 237-page tell-all. Desire has brought Peoples Energy money to fund our traveling zoo, Bell says. You know the press; youre fair game just because you are there. And her tastes are high-octane sophisticated. Rice married S. Andre Rice in 1984 and the couple had one daughter, Alexa Christina. [9], Johnson Publishing had several locations throughout its history. Just this morning I was reading a letter from someone who was furious about a bus driver. b10311894, Hue (Chicago, Ill.), Record No. As the company grew, Johnson then purchased a building at 5619 S. State Street in 1943. For Rabbi Ike Serotta, having his children, who are scattered across the country, home for the holiday is the best blessing. I havent spoken to her since she received it, said Christian. Subscribe for free today! In many ways, its amazing that they stayed together as long as they did., On her own, it is hardly surprising that Rogers is wary of being miscast as a socialite. At first, I thought, Oh, Ill be just like my mother because she gets to do interesting things, she says. Rice has been recognized numerous times. There were problems with distribution. First, the similarities: Jarrett and Rice grew up in Chicago, and their parents know one another. "[4] The writing portrayed African Americans as they saw themselves and its photojournalism made history. The famous came from all over the world to dine in JPCs 10th-floor dining room. After several entreaties, then demands for payment, a group of contributors went public with its complaint and sued for payment. [citation needed], For over 40 years beginning in 1958, The company hosted the Ebony Fashion Fair, a traveling fashion show started by Eunice W. Johnson. In 1981, after graduating from USC, Rice made her first solo business trip to Europe to purchase clothing for the Ebony Fashion Fair. Its funny because he was into housing, she says, and now, many years later, here I am. Her father, John H. Johnson is founder of Johnson Publishing Company, and her mother, Eunice Johnson, is producer and director of the Ebony Fashion Fair. By the show's third year in 1987, it was the only Black-syndicated program to reach 92 percent of Black U.S television households and 73 percent of U.S. television households, strengthening its position as the No. In Fall 2017, the City of Chicago designated the Johnson Building as a city landmark. Six years later, in 1949, it relocated to 1820 South Michigan Avenue, a former funeral home. Ebony is the magazine for African Americans, says Samir Husni, the head of the magazine journalism program at the University of Mississippi at Oxford and a recognized expert on the magazine business. The third-floor all pink housed Fashion Fairs traveling fashion show and cosmetics, always teeming with beautiful women. She chooses the best designers, says one regular on the social scene, but both she and Linda [Rice] go for designers who have a flamboyant flair. The archives will go to the Getty Research Institute and the National Museum of African American History and Culture to be made digitally available to the public. She has mastered the art of doing lots of things well, says her mother, Barbara Bowman, the president of the Erikson Institute, a graduate program in child development. But they are very different people.. My parents were always passionate about what they were involved in, says Rogers, and they passed that kind of passion on to me. I can still remember going out on the factory floor and standing there when the announcement was made that these companies were staying. Its in the past, says Rogers. Because there, but for the grace of God, go I. . Tigers star Angel Reece said she would rather visit the former president after Jill Biden said she would invite runner-up Iowa and champions LSU to the White House. Its hard not to know Desire, says Susan Sher, the vice-president and general counsel for the University of Chicago Hospitals. Subscriptions of Johnson publications started to dwindle. The wedding is planned for Nov. 2. b14153584, "Expressing Culture E Style, An Afrocentric Catalog, Is The Latest Entry in the Hot 'Ethnic' Market", "Publisher's Statement: Four decades of the most important events and the most important people", Robert W. Woodruff Library, Atlanta University Center, Johnson Publishing Company clipping files collection, John H. Johnson's oral history video excerpts, Historically black colleges and universities, Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), National Black Chamber of Commerce (NBCC), Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL), Black players in professional American football, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Johnson_Publishing_Company&oldid=1145093216, Black-owned companies of the United States, Book publishing companies based in Illinois, Magazine publishing companies of the United States, Mass media companies of the United States, Privately held companies based in Illinois, American companies disestablished in 2019, Publishing companies disestablished in 2019, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from April 2019, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, JPC Consumer Products, LLC Ebony lifestyle branding, Ebony/Jet Entertainment Group, LLC branded multimedia entertainment, WJPC Radio (now under different ownership as, This page was last edited on 17 March 2023, at 06:48. The show raised money for scholarships and charities in cities across the United States and Canada. 3L Real Estate CEO Joe Slezak said it was important to maintain original features when possible and worked with interior designer Elizabeth Watters to keep subtle reminders of the initial decor designed by Arthur Elrod and William Raiser. Rogers is quick to point out that she currently sits on five boardsat the Lincoln Park Zoo, the Museum of Science and Industry, Ravinia, WTTW, and the Smithsonian Institution. John H. Johnson, Rices father, has reserved for himself the titles of publisher, chairman, and chief executive officer, along with an active role in the day-to-day decisions. During this time, Rice enrolled in Northwestern Universitys Kellogg Graduate School of Management, and earned her M.B.A. in 1987. In April 2019, JPC filed for liquidation, ending the company's 76-year run. It was watching the demise of the company Johnson had built from a $500 loan from his mother, that led Christian, who left the company as an Ebony senior editor, to write first her 2013 dissertation on JPC, then the book. Sources say that since the departures, Rogers and Robert Fitzpatrick, the director and chief executive officer of the Museum of Contemporary Art, have had several successful breakfast meetings and that both sides simply want the uproar to fade away. (His son, John Jr., died in 1981 of sickle cell anemia.) Not that her current job is a piece of cake. Perhaps there is a restlessness beneath that polished exterior, for Jarrett continues to search out new challenges. [23] In 2022, FFC was relaunched in over 250 Sephora stores,[24] as well as online. His publications both filled a niche in the market and "forever changed the popular representation of African Americans. Ebony magazine was more than a publication to black America, it was a public trust. She values her friendships going back a dozen years. They always stressed, Get a good education, do your best work, and be so passionate that your passion becomes contagious., After she finished school, Rogers worked briefly as a marketing manager for AT&T in New Jersey. She has also been named one of Chicagos 100 Most Powerful Women and one of the Top 10 Women in Media by the Chicago Sun-Times. One of their best friends from that time is John Rogers, the president of Ariel Capital Management, an investment firm. Our team," promised Clear View CEO Michael Gibson, "has a true understanding of the Ebony brand as well as its legacy.". But gradually I started watching my father and I thought, You know what? The old assimilationist aesthetic became challenged by the new Afrocentric aesthetic. I thought, There has to be something better for me than this, recalls Jarrett. Subscriptions of Johnson publications started to dwindle. The ceilings are high enough to fly a kite. She decided to go to work for the city of Chicago. "From the lobby, with large swaths of original wood wall paneling, to ottomans reupholstered using material (curtains/rugs) from the Johnson Publishing days, the vibe is oh so 70s. degree. Id like to see Linda decide whether we are an entertainment magazine or a newsmagazine, says one well-placed employee. is a security sales associate with Goldman, Sachs & Company in Chicago. And whether you were the janitor or top editor, he knew everyones name. I told her former JPC colleagues did editing and the cover design. Those who lost their jobs sought to maintain bonds formed over decades at a company where the founders policy was to never force people to retire. Her beautiful office, on the 79th floor of the Sears Tower, had a view looking east. Little wonder, then, that a miniscandal erupted when Rogers and Ricealong with Linda Walker Bynoe and Maria Bechilyleft the Museum of Contemporary Arts board last January. This week, the other shoe finally dropped: JPC announced it was filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection. WebWhen his daughter, Linda Johnson Rice, expressed an interest in working at the company, he developed a personal course of training for her, designed to groom her for the firm's leadership. Jarrett was born in Iran, where her parents had moved in 1955, when the shah was trying to Westernize health care. Johnson attended the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, and graduated with a BA in Journalism from the Annenberg School for Communication in 1980. In 1987, The Habitat Company was appointed by a federal judge to step in where the Chicago Housing Authority had failedin developing family public housing units. The company later renamed the station WJPC and began broadcasting on November 1, 1973. (microform), Record No. She quickly got over any shyness; there just wasnt time. JPC also published Jet, a weekly news magazine, from November 1951 until June 2014, when it became digital only. But the East, she thought, lacked a certain kind of hospitality that she, growing up in the South, was used to. In April 2019, JPC filed for liquidation, ending the company's 76-year run. Jet, dubbed "The Weekly Negro News Magazine",[15][16] was a mini-size weekly magazine that featured African American entertainers, community issues, public figures and a woman (predominately black) featured as "Jet's Beauty of the Week". And then there are her clothes. [42], In January 2020 Johnson Publishing Company auctioned its art collection, the last of its major assets. A large business.. Bettmann/Getty Images [26] WJPC-FM, a predominately R&B and soul station operated from November 1973 until it was sold in December 1994. [19][20] [6] By mid-1943, the monthly circulation of Negro Digest had reached 50,000 copies. At one point, Prince even used the foundation. Rices father in 1942 founded Johnson Publishing Company which published Ebony and Jet magazines and as a result was the largest black-owned magazine publisher in the United States. None of this leaves much leisure time. Born: 22-Mar-1958 Birthplace: Chicago, IL. He cursed like a sailor, and if he was upset about something, hed slam his fist on the table. in political science from Wellesley College and that M.B.A. from Harvard. (Explanations vary.) Together the three have earned six degrees, including an M.M. Founder of Ebony magazine and Johnson Publishing Company John H. Johnson. And youre not. Like Rogers, she has no interest in discussing why she left the board of the Museum of Contemporary Art. But as close and long-standing friends, they are usually togetherthe three form a juggernaut of brains, beauty, and connections, proving that sisterhood is indeed powerful.