Fidelia Adams Johnson
Fidelia Adams Johnson | |
|---|---|
| Born | Fidelia Olin Adams April 17, 1905 Grambling, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Died | May 14, 1996 (aged 91) Ruston, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Occupations | Educator, athlete, coach |
| Spouse | Ozias Johnson |
| Parent | Charles P. Adams |
| Relatives | Lewis Adams (grandfather) |
Fidelia Olin Adams Johnson (April 17, 1905 – May 14, 1996) was an American athlete and educator. She taught home economics and coached basketball at Grambling State University from 1929 to 1970.
Early life and education
Adams was born in Grambling, Louisiana, the elder daughter of Charles P. Adams and Martha Norman Adams.[1][2] Her father was the founder and president of Grambling State University.[3][4] Her grandfather Lewis Adams helped found Tuskegee University.[5][6] She was named for Fidelia Jewett, a white philanthropist who helped fund the founding of the North Louisiana Agricultural and Industrial Institute.[1]
She graduated from Tuskegee Institute in 1929. She lettered in basketball all four years at Tuskegee, and was team captain.[7] She earned a master's degree at the University of Iowa in 1945,[8] with further studies at Antioch University and Michigan State University.[9] She was a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.[1]
Career
Johnson taught home economics at Grambling State University, where she also coached women's basketball, chaired the home economics department, served as dean of women, and was a member of the school's board of directors.[4] She was known as "Mama Fi" on campus.[1] She launched Grambling's "field service program", an innovative outreach project. She also started the school's home economics education, early childhood education, and institutional management majors.[4][6] She retired from the university in 1970.[9][10]
In 1925 Adams spoke at the third annual Hampton Builders' Conference in Virginia.[11] In 1974 she was inducted into the Tuskegee University Athletics Hall of Fame.[12] In 1978 she gave an oral history interview for the Black Women Oral History Project.[13][14] She was inducted into the Grambling Hall of Fame in 1982.[9]
Personal life
Adams married fellow Tuskegee alumnus and Grambling sports coach Ozias Johnson in 1934.[15] Her husband died in 1980, and she died in 1996, at the age of 91, in Ruston, Louisiana.[16] The Charles P. Adams House in Grambling was named to the National Register of Historic Places, and donated to the Grambling State University Foundation.[17]
References
- ^ a b c d "In Commemoration of Woman's History Month". The Gramblinite. 2016-03-31. Retrieved 2026-02-14.
- ^ "Grambling Hall of Fame finds home sweet home". The Times. 1983-07-15. p. 19. Retrieved 2026-02-14 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Carter, Doris Dorcas (1976). "Charles P. Adams and Grambling State University: The Formative Years (1901-1928)". Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association. 17 (4): 401–412. ISSN 0024-6816.
- ^ a b c Richard, Jeff (1996-05-18). "GSU founder's late daughter honored". The Times. p. 13. Retrieved 2026-02-14.
- ^ "Lewis Adams". Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site, U.S. National Park Service. Retrieved 2026-02-14.
- ^ a b "Daughter of Grambling Col. Founder Retires". The Louisiana Weekly. 1971-01-02. p. 11. Retrieved 2026-02-14 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Tuskegee Names 1926 Captains". The Afro-American. 1926-06-05. p. 15. Retrieved 2026-02-14 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Adams Johnson, Fidelia Olin (1945). The rehabilitation and furnishing of a typical rural home for negroes in Lincoln Parish, Louisiana (Master of Arts thesis). Iowa City, IA, United States: University of Iowa. doi:10.17077/etd.u5ao3oty.
- ^ a b c Watters, Cyra (2022-03-07). "Women's History Month Profile: Fidelia A. Johnson". The Gramblinite. Retrieved 2026-02-14.
- ^ Carter, Doris L. (Spring–Summer 1998). "Fidelia Adams Johnson and Grambling State University". North Louisiana Historical Association Journal. 29: 70–91.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date format (link) - ^ Brown, H. Whittemore (1925-03-14). "3rd Annual Conference of Builders Held at Hampton--R.R. Taylor, Pres". The New York Age. p. 9. Retrieved 2026-02-14 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Fidelia O. Adams Johnson, Class of 1974" Tuskegee University Athletics Hall of Fame.
- ^ Hill, Ruth Edmonds (2013-06-21). The Black Women Oral History Project. Cplt. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 246–247. ISBN 978-3-11-097391-4.
- ^ Fauxsmith, Jennifer. "Research Guides: Black Women Oral History Project Interviews, 1976–1981: Biographies". Schlesinger Library, Harvard University. Retrieved 2026-02-14.
- ^ "Cupid Throws Grid Ace". The St. Louis Argus. 1934-08-17. p. 6. Retrieved 2026-02-14 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Coolman, A. Denise (1996-05-16). "Grambling's 'Mama Fi' dies at 91 in Ruston". The News-Star. p. 10. Retrieved 2026-02-14 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Rushing, Eleanor (1996-11-07). "Home Sweet History; Grambling State founder's home on state registry of historic places". The News-Star. p. 17. Retrieved 2026-02-14 – via Newspapers.com.