Solomon C. Johnson

Solomon Charles Johnson, commonly known as Sol C. Johnson, (November 20, 1868 – March 1, 1954) was an American publisher and businessman based in Savannah, Georgia. He was the editor of the Savannah Tribune from 1889 until his death in 1954. He owned the newspaper from 1909.

Life and career Johnson was born in Laurel Hill, South Carolina, in 1868. He moved north to Savannah, Georgia, as a young boy. He attended West Broad Street School, on today's Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

In 1882, he was listed as being a driver for J. Feeley, before he began learning the art of printing by working as a printer's devil at the Savannah Echo, which was owned by Thomas T. Harden.

Johnson moved on to begin a career at the Savannah Tribune, then owned by Colonel John H. Deveaux (1848–1909). He became the editor in 1889, when Deveaux moved to Brunswick, Georgia. He purchased the paper after Deveaux's death in 1909, and remained in the position for the next 65 years, until his own death. His assistant was his goddaughter Willa Mae Ayers Johnson (died 1991), who ran the publication after Johnson's death. The newspaper urged its readers to fight segregation, particularly on the city's streetcars.

Death and legacy Johnson died in Savannah in 1954, aged 85. He was interred in Savannah's Laurel Grove Cemetery.

Savannah's Sol C. Johnson High School was named in his honor.