Veora Johnson

Veora Johnson (April 21, 1910- November 15, 2001) was an Arizona educator and humanitarian. She was the first black educational administrator in Arizona.

Biography Johnson was born on April 21, 1910, in Navasota, Texas to Albert and Annie Blackshear Johnson. She was their eighth child out off ten. Johnson was the valedictorian of her high school class and graduated magna cum laude from Prairie View University at just eighteen. She went on to earn a degree in elementary administration from Arizona State University. She started the first black Greek letter organization in Arizona, Alpha Sigma. She also completed graduate work at the University of Arizona, the University of Hawaiʻi, and the University of Southern California, and collected several bachelor's and master's degrees. At the time, Mesa superintendent Herman Hendrix was contacting university presidents looking for a young Black teacher to join the district to serve as a role model for the Black students in the classroom. The school was a Black school in a segregated district, with many students not graduating from high school. In this position, Johnson was the first Black woman in Arizona to hold administration credentials in education and the first Black principal in Mesa. She became the principal of Irving Elementary in 1967.

Johnson served on seven boards. Two were at the state level. One was by Supreme Court appointment.

Johnson died on November 15, 2001, of stomach cancer. She was buried in Navasota, Texas.

Legacy and Honors On Martin Luther King Day, the Mesa MLK Committee awards the Veora E. Johnson Spirit of Unity awards.

Golden Soror 1953: Mesa's Citizen of the Year 1958: Who's Who in Arizona 1967: American Association of University Women Woman of the Year 1974: World Who's Who of Women 1983: The Veora E. Johnson Elementary School in Mesa, Arizona is named in Johnson's honor. This was the first time an elementary school had been named for someone from the school district. 1985: Arizona State University Medallion of Excellence 2004: Arizona Women's Hall of Fame