ARKANSAS CITY -- Arkansas State Parks hosted a groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday on the future site of John H. Johnson Park.
Held at Delta Heritage Trail State Park, the ceremony took place on John H. Johnson Day.
Johnson, born in Arkansas City in 1918, is known for founding Johnson Publishing Company in Chicago in 1942. The company published the influential Black magazines Ebony and Jet.
Johnson became the first Black person on the Forbes 400 list in 1982. In 1996, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from fellow Arkansan President Bill Clinton. He died in 2005.
John H. Johnson Day was declared by the Arkansas Legislature in 2019 after appeals from the John H. Johnson Museum and Educational Center in Arkansas City.
Among those who took part in the groundbreaking ceremony in Johnson's hometown were Arkansas City Mayor Rick Hales; Becca Hazlewood, senior program officer for the Walton Family Foundation; Robert S. Moore Jr., chairman of the Arkansas State Highway Commission and Arkansas City native; and Jordan Thomas, the design services manager of planning and management for Arkansas State Parks.
The Johnson park, which will include an amphitheater, exhibits and a statue of Johnson, will serve as the southern terminus of the 84.5 mile Delta Heritage Trail that is under development.
Moore, a former member of the Arkansas Legislature, had worked since the 1990s to honor Johnson's memory in their hometown. He called the groundbreaking "a bright day of opportunity" for the southeast Arkansas town that boasts a population of roughly 369.
"We have been working diligently for the last couple of decades to get to where we are," Moore said.
Part of the funding for the Johnson Park and Trail, which will join the city's John H. Johnson Museum that opened in 2004, comes from the Walton Family Foundation.
"I think it's important to celebrate the rich history and the successful entrepreneurs from all over, certainly these small cities that don't often get as recognized as it could and should be," said Hazlewood. "And there's a lot to be celebrated in terms of [Johnson's] life and what he did for the Black community and Black culture."
Johnson Day, which included a talk on the history of Jet magazine, along with a fashion show and musical performances, was celebrated by people from "all walks of life" said Angela Courtney, the volunteer curator of the museum.
"People are here from across the state, from Mississippi actually, too, so that's been wonderful to have that opportunity to be in this space where it all started in 1918," Courtney said. "Just in the last five years, that's when I got involved, because it's just amazing to tell his story and to learn from what he's done. He's been a trailblazer and a pioneer. And so this has been a great opportunity for me to share it with the kids in the community, because so many kids don't know about Mr. Johnson and the work that he's done. Maybe their grandparents do, but not youth."
In its Sept. 15, 1955, issue, Jet magazine published pictures of the mutilated body of Chicago teenager Emmitt Till after he was kidnapped and murdered. Till's mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, insisted on a public, open-casket funeral to shine a light on the racial violence being perpetrated in the South.
Rev. Wheeler Parker Jr., a cousin to Till and the last living witness to his abduction, was one of the speakers at Tuesday's event, which focused in part on Jet's 70th anniversary.
Moore also gave a speech. He recalled initially meeting Johnson in 1995 to discuss a way to honor him in his hometown. That eventually led to the museum opening.
"From my having met him and dealt with him, I think what he would be saying is, 'OK, you're gonna honor my legacy in this little town. You're gonna build a park that's going to attract people into my hometown where I grew up. What are you gonna do with it?'" Moore said. "This is an opportunity. ...It's going to grow the economy here. It's going to make a difference."
The park is expected to be completed in summer 2023.