N.C. A&T Alumni Times

Aggieland is a place where people come together as one large academic family. Many alumni have attended and sometimes even worked at our university following in the footsteps of their parents, siblings and other relatives. Generations have come from the families of Dudley, Falkener, Gibbs, Bluford, Blair, Byram, Jackson, McCain and many more. Sometimes Aggies from the same household attend in pairs or groups. Siblings like George and Willie Grimes, Carl and Ronald McNair attended North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University a proximity of a just a few years.

One of the earliest known sibling pairs to attend A&T were the Johnson Brothers, John and William. After graduating from the A&M College for the Colored Race in the first decade of the 20th Century, they ran the Johnson Brothers Dairy in Greensboro, N.C. Their dairy farm was reportedly the largest in Guilford County at that time. For the young A&M College alumnus, the Johnsons were an early example of agricultural pride and were promoted as prime examples of successful graduates in the 1907-1908 college bulletin.

John Isaiah Johnson (1884 - 1965) and William Thomas Johnson (1885 - 1917) grew up in Oregonville, N.C. a community just outside of Reidsville. John entered the A&M College in October of 1901 and William possibly a year later. As a student John worked in the dining hall, on the student grounds, and in the dairy barn. John graduated with his bachelors’ in agriculture in 1905, and William with the same degree in 1906. The dairy farm they started was located either a few miles from the campus on East Market Street or north of campus towards Reidsville.

John left the business and Greensboro around 1910 and moved to Detroit where he may have continued in the dairy industry until 1913. Also in 1910, William T. Johnson was elected superintendent of dairy farming at A&T and an instructor of animal husbandry. William is said to have continued the dairy farm he operated with John as late as 1913. In the mid-1910s William would join his brother in Detroit for the remaining years of his life.

John was a long-time special postal clerk for decades and is described in some A&T histories as a pioneer in the federal government of Detroit. In March 1935, a letter he wrote for the “Alumni Column” of the “A&T Register” newspaper was published. At age 51 he spoke proudly of being a father of nine children and shared fondness of his A&M days under the guidance of President James B. Dudley, Adam Watson, Peter E. Robinson, Charles H. Moore and many other early faculty members.

John attributed his successes in life to the teachings he received at N.C. A&T. He concluded his letter by saying: “I will always wish for the school, the teachers and all the faculty and student-body a continued success and abundant prosperity.”

If you have more information about the Johnson Brothers, or would like to know more about A&T History, please contact the F. D. Bluford Library Archives at libraryarchives@ncat.edu.