Date/Time:
December 3, 2024
All Day
Eddie Bernice Johnson was a civil activist and American politician who represented the Texas 30th congressional district from 1993 to 2023.
Rep. Johnson was the first registered nurse elected to the U.S. Congress, and ultimately, upon the death of Rep. Don Young’s death in 2022, Johnson became the oldest member of the House of Representatives. Prior to her service in the U.S. Congress, Johnson served in the Texas House of Representatives. Initially winning office there in a 1972 landslide, Johnson was the first African American woman to win elected office from Dallas. She served three terms in the Texas Senate. An accomplished professional, Johnson also was the first African American to serve as Chief Psychiatric Nurse at the Dallas Veterans Administration Hospital.
Born on December 3, 1934 in Waco, TX, Eddie Bernice Johnson wanted to be a doctor since childhood, but was told by a high school guidance counselor that this was not possible because of her gender. She adjusted her dream of a career in medicine and eventually earned a nursing certificate from the University of Notre Dame and bachelor’s degree from Texas Christian University, which was followed by a master’s of public administration from Southern Methodist University.
The story is told in an article announcing her death that as an elementary school student in 1941, Eddie Bernice Johnson met Dorie Miller, the African American sailor who was relegated to mess duties at Pearl Harbor due to segregation in the Navy. Miller became an American hero when he joined combat during the December 7th attack to shoot down Japanese planes with no munitions training.
About their chance meeting, Johnson stated in 2020, “I met Mr. Miller when I was in the first grade. I shook his hand and I just knew that I wanted to do something to thank him for his service in the military. I collected money in my neighborhood to buy him something nice for his return, but he never made it back.” (As we know, Dorie Miller died when a torpedo struck his ship in the Pacific in 1943.)
Ever the activist for civil justice and being faithful to her desire to do thank Dorie Miller for his service, Eddie Bernice Johnson helped get a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier named after the sailor she had met decades earlier. The USS Miller, commissioned in 1973, was the first to be named after an African American.
The intermodal railroad terminal in Dallas — Dallas Union Station — is officially known as “Eddie Bernice Johnson Union Station” after Rep. Johnson. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Eddie Bernice Johnson died at age 89 on December 21, 2023.
Tag(s):
