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Charmayne Johnson family papers

 Collection
Identifier: aarl004-007

Scope and Contents note

The Charmayne Johnson family papers, 1900-1998, include awards, certificates, cards, church bulletins, correspondence, funeral programs, materials related to education, legal documents, newsletters, photographs, yearbooks, and other items collected by various members of the Brooks and Johnson families. A portion of the collection consists of papers related to the education of Albert and Georgia Brooks. These include but are not limited to school assignments and report cards, alumni materials, event programs, receipts, and a 1948 yearbook from Herring Street High School.

The legal records document the transfer of property in Griffin, Georgia, between relatives of Georgia Brooks. Color and black and white photographs document family and friends at home and on vacations, as well as various schools. Among the latter are Clark College, Fifth Avenue Elementary, and Trinity High School. Newspaper clippings and articles pertain to family activities and include poems, short stories, and news accounts of local events. Further documenting the personal lives of the Brooks family are yearbooks from Clark College and Morris Brown College, and funeral programs for Albert Irvin Brooks, Georgia Bishop Brooks, and DeLoys Brooks Hawk. Less documented are the family's civic and professional lives. Most of the photographs from the photo album were removed for preservation, though ones that are affixed remain. Identifying information was transferred to folder titles when known.

Dates

  • 1900-1998, undated

Creator

Conditions Governing Use note

There are no restrictions on research use of this collection.

Biographical/Historical note

The Charmayne Johnson family papers span multiple generations of the Johnson and Brooks families in Atlanta and Decatur, Georgia, from 1900 to 1998. Charmayne Johnson, daughter of DeLoys Brooks Hawk and Mason P. Johnson and the granddaughter of Georgia "Belle" Bishop and Albert Irvin Brooks, was born in Atlanta in 1953. She attended West Fulton High School and Morris Brown College. As of 2010, Charmayne Johnson worked for Emory University.

DeLoys Brooks Hawk (1933-1981), daughter of Georgia and Albert Brooks, attended Herring Street High School and Clark College. After graduating from Clark, Hawk continued her studies at Atlanta University (now Clark Atlanta University) and Georgia State University. She taught in Atlanta schools for eighteen years. During the early 1950s, she married Mason Johnson and started a family. After they divorced, DeLoys Brooks married Claude Hawk in the early 1960s. DeLoys Brooks Hawk died October 1981.

The youngest of six children, Georgia "Belle" Bishop Brooks (1910-1998) was born to Charles and Elizabeth Bishop in Griffin, Georgia. There she attended elementary and high school. Later, Georgia Bishop graduated with degrees from Clark College and Atlanta University. She was a member of Zeta Phi Beta sorority. In 1931, Georgia Bishop married Albert Brooks. They had two children, DeLoys and Albert Jr. For forty years, Brooks taught in Decatur schools, including those for African Americans. Among them was the Herring Street High School, later Trinity High School. She continued teaching after the integration of the Decatur School system in 1967. Georgia Bishop Brooks died in 1998.

Albert Irvin Brooks Sr. (1908-1987), the youngest of three children, was born in Decatur, Georgia, to Mr. and Mrs. Joseph W. Brooks. He attended high schools in Decatur and Atlanta. A graduate of Clark College, Brooks also was an active member of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity. Early in his career, he was as a principal at Lithonia Middle School. Later, Brooks worked for the United States Postal Service. He and his wife were active members of Antioch African Methodist Episcopal Church, the first African American church in Decatur, Georgia. Albert Irvin Brooks Sr. died in 1987.

Extent

1.33 Linear feet

Language

English

Immediate Source of Acquisition note

The collection was donated in 2004.

Physical Description

(1 document case, 1 overzsize box)

Title
Inventory of the Charmayne Johnson Family Papers aarl004-007aarl004-007
Author
Finding aid prepared by Finding aid prepared by Processed by Maya Thomas and Wesley Chenault, 2010. Additions processed by Yolanda Sapp-Fagbamiye, 2019
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Auburn Avenue Research Library on African-American Culture and History Repository

Contact:
101 Auburn Avenue NE
Atlanta GA 30303
404-613-4032