Victor S. Johnson, Jr.

Victor Samuel Johnson Jr. (June 12, 1916 – January 19, 2008) was an American lawyer who was president of Aladdin Industries, a manufacturer of vacuum bottles, kerosene lamps, and stoves. He was notable for creating the market for decorative lunch boxes. The company was further diversified under Johnson's leadership. He was a businessman in Nashville, Tennessee.

Aladdin Industries Johnson graduated from Amherst College in 1938 and Yale Law School in 1941. He served as a second lieutenant from the United States Army until February 1946. His father Victor S. Johnson Sr. died in 1943, so upon his discharge, Johnson Jr. took over the Mantle Lamp Company of America, the company his father founded in 1908 that provided kerosene lighting to rural America. The state had been acquiring the land north of the capitol since the early 1970s, with tentative plans for constructing additional office space as the state government grew. Johnson shared Bridges' idea with Governor Ned McWherter in 1989, and consulted New York architect Robert Lamb Hart, who in 1990 devised a plan that integrated distinct elements along the site's length that incorporated a park and new state office buildings. Around the same time the state began preparing for the commemorations for the state's bicentennial, and ultimately chose to construct a new state park on the site. The park, which was named Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park, opened for the state's bicentennial on June 1, 1996.

Later life Johnson remained active in philanthropic causes throughout his life. He was chairman of the board of trustees of Meharry Medical College in Nashville from 1956 to 1983 and was honored with a life membership on the board. He was also a member of the board of trustees of George Peabody College for Teachers from 1954 to 1964. The Judge William E. Miller Prize at Yale Law is a gift from Victor S. Johnson Jr. in memory of judge William E. Miller. He and his wife founded the Nancy and Victor S. Johnson Jr. Foundation.

In 2005, Johnson figured by happenstance in the Seigenthaler incident, a controversy over a hoax posted as a Wikipedia article about prominent Nashville resident John Seigenthaler Sr. Seigenthaler told reporters that Johnson was the first person who alerted him about the article.

Johnson died in Nashville of colon cancer, at the age of 91. He was survived by wife Nancy, son Victor S. Johnson III, daughter Christine Tyler, and five grandchildren.