Johnson Publishing Company

John H. Johnson founded Johnson Publishing Company in Chicago in 1942. It launched EBONY in 1945 and JET in 1951; the company also created the traveling Ebony Fashion Fair. After the historic company filed for liquidation in 2019, Johnson Publishing Company says it re-emerged as a multimedia and production company under Linda Johnson Rice’s leadership in 2021. EBONY and JET were sold in 2016 and are not described here as its current publications.

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John H. Johnson. Image via Johnson Publishing Company; photographer not identified.