Amos Johnson

Amos R. Johnson Jr. (1908-1975) was the fourth son and last of six children of Amos Johnson and Mary Anne Ferguson.  He was born and lived most of his life in Kansas City, Missouri.  He was a lifelong civil servant and active in the community.

In 1935, he was one of the organizers of the Kansas City Council of Negro Employees.  This organization was intended to help develop employment possibilities for blacks.  Johnson also served as manager and treasurer of the Negro Employees Credit Union. Subsequently he also was involved in the organization of two other credit unions: the Kansas City Call Newspaper Credit Union, and the St. Joseph Parish Credit Union.

Amos Johnson served in the Army during World War II. He was a chaplain's assistant serving in the Pacific theater, and reached the rank of Sgt. In 1948 he began his federal civil Service career as a clerk for the Kansas City Records Center of the Missouri Division of the US Employment Service.  He was promoted to supervisor in 1953 and became the records management officer in 1956.  In 1960 he was named chief of the administrative branch.  In 1961 he was transferred to Ft. Leavenworth Kansas, to be administrative assistant in the mobilization and plans section.  After that job he joined the Post Office Department.

In 1965, Amos Johnson joined the Office of Equal Opportunity, where he would work for 10 years until his death in 1975.  At the time of his death, he was chief of the field services division, and the agency had been renamed the Community Services Administration. 

Amos Johnson's other community activities included activity with the YMCA and the YWCA, being a member of the Kansas City Veterans Committee, and chairman of the personnel committee of the Florence Crittenton Home. He was a member of Green Pasture Lodge #128, Free & Accepted Masons-Prince Hall Affiliated..

He was married to Lila M. Johnson, with whom he had a son Robert L. Johnson.  He attended Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Kansas City, and was a member of the Catholic Interracial Council, and the National Council of Catholic Men.

The family lived at 1320 E. 27th St,,1508 Forest Ave., and later, 2615 E. 22nd St., Kansas City, Missouri.

Amos Johnson Jr. is buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Raytown, Missouri.