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Albert Johnson (congressman)
Encyclopedia
Albert Johnson was a U.S. Representative
from Washington state.
Born in Springfield, Illinois
, Johnson attended the schools at Atchison and Hiawatha, Kansas. He worked as a reporter on the St. Joseph (Missouri) Herald and the St. Louis (Missouri) Globe-Democrat from 1888 to 1891, as managing editor of the New Haven Register in 1896 and 1897, and as news editor of the Washington Post in 1898.
To edit the Tacoma News he moved to Tacoma, Washington
in 1898. He became editor and publisher of Grays Harbor Washingtonian (Hoquiam, Washington) in 1907.
Albert Johnson was elected as a Republican
to the Sixty-third and to the nine succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1913-March 3, 1933), but was defeated in a bid for reelection in November 1932.
While a Member of Congress, Johnson was commissioned a captain in the Chemical Warfare Service during the First World War, receiving an honorable discharge on November 29, 1918. He served as chairman of the Committee on Immigration and Naturalization (Sixty-sixth through Seventy-first Congresses), where he played an important role in the passage of the anti-immigrant legislation of the 1920s. Johnson was the chief author of the Immigration Act of 1924
, which in 1927 he justified as a bulwark against "a stream of alien blood, with all its inherited misconceptions respecting the relationships of the governing power to the governed." Johnson has been described as "an unusually energetic and vehement racist and nativist." He was the head of 'The Eugenics Research Association', a group which opposed interracial marriage
and supported forced sterilization of the mentally disabled. In support of his 1919 proposal to suspend immigration he included this quote from a State Department Official referring to Jewish people as "filthy, un-American, and often dangerous in their habits."
Johnson retired from the newspaper business in 1934. He died in a veterans hospital at American Lake, Washington, January 17, 1957. He is buried in Sunset Memorial Park, Hoquiam, Washington
.
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
from Washington state.
Born in Springfield, Illinois
Springfield, Illinois
Springfield is the third and current capital of the US state of Illinois and the county seat of Sangamon County with a population of 117,400 , making it the sixth most populated city in the state and the second most populated Illinois city outside of the Chicago Metropolitan Area...
, Johnson attended the schools at Atchison and Hiawatha, Kansas. He worked as a reporter on the St. Joseph (Missouri) Herald and the St. Louis (Missouri) Globe-Democrat from 1888 to 1891, as managing editor of the New Haven Register in 1896 and 1897, and as news editor of the Washington Post in 1898.
To edit the Tacoma News he moved to Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma is a mid-sized urban port city and the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. The city is on Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Park. The population was 198,397, according to...
in 1898. He became editor and publisher of Grays Harbor Washingtonian (Hoquiam, Washington) in 1907.
Albert Johnson was elected as a Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
to the Sixty-third and to the nine succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1913-March 3, 1933), but was defeated in a bid for reelection in November 1932.
While a Member of Congress, Johnson was commissioned a captain in the Chemical Warfare Service during the First World War, receiving an honorable discharge on November 29, 1918. He served as chairman of the Committee on Immigration and Naturalization (Sixty-sixth through Seventy-first Congresses), where he played an important role in the passage of the anti-immigrant legislation of the 1920s. Johnson was the chief author of the Immigration Act of 1924
Immigration Act of 1924
The Immigration Act of 1924, or Johnson–Reed Act, including the National Origins Act, and Asian Exclusion Act , was a United States federal law that limited the annual number of immigrants who could be admitted from any country to 2% of the number of people from that country who were already...
, which in 1927 he justified as a bulwark against "a stream of alien blood, with all its inherited misconceptions respecting the relationships of the governing power to the governed." Johnson has been described as "an unusually energetic and vehement racist and nativist." He was the head of 'The Eugenics Research Association', a group which opposed interracial marriage
Interracial marriage
Interracial marriage occurs when two people of differing racial groups marry. This is a form of exogamy and can be seen in the broader context of miscegenation .-Legality of interracial marriage:In the Western world certain jurisdictions have had regulations...
and supported forced sterilization of the mentally disabled. In support of his 1919 proposal to suspend immigration he included this quote from a State Department Official referring to Jewish people as "filthy, un-American, and often dangerous in their habits."
Johnson retired from the newspaper business in 1934. He died in a veterans hospital at American Lake, Washington, January 17, 1957. He is buried in Sunset Memorial Park, Hoquiam, Washington
Hoquiam, Washington
Hoquiam is a city in Grays Harbor County, Washington state, United States. The town borders the city of Aberdeen at Myrtle Street with Hoquiam to the west. The two cities share a common economic history in lumbering and exporting but Hoquiam has maintained its independent identity...
.
See also
- Sixty-third United States Congress
- Sixty-fourth United States Congress
- Sixty-fifth United States Congress
- Sixty-sixth United States Congress
- Sixty-seventh United States Congress
- Sixty-eighth United States Congress
- Sixty-ninth United States Congress
- Seventieth United States Congress
- Seventy-first United States Congress
- Seventy-second United States Congress
Sources
- Daniels, Roger. Guarding the Golden Door: American Immigration Policy and Immigrants since 1882. Boston & New York: Hill and Wang, 2004.
- Goings, Aaron. Johnson, Albert (1869–1957) - HistoryLink.org Essay 8721. http://historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=8721