Janie Johnson

"My momma bought a house, four walls that did not have running water, did not have a bathroom, and did not have a kitchen sink. She walked through the door and began working on that house and every year we are still doing renovations to that house. They bought it in ’52 and here it is in 2019, and I have held on to my momma and daddy’s dream house."

- Janie Johnson

Janie Johnson worked for UNC as an administrative worker for thirty-five years. She has lived in her parent’s “dream house” in Northside her whole life. The house was bought as a mill house in 1952 with no running water or bathroom, but her parents continually renovated it. She continued to work on the house until the date of the interview. Johnson’s mother was a fabulous cook known for always feeding those who came to her door hungry. Her mother had to leave school to work as a domestic worker when she was young. Johnson’s grandmother was a very religious woman who played the piano with great spirit. Johnson went to church nearly every day growing up and her faith is deeply important to her. She speaks fondly of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro area as a very pleasant place with a renowned university and healthcare system. She particularly loves the Northside community in which neighbors cared for one another. Johnson notes how much life has changed with modern technology and the pace of life has sped up as a consequence.

Janie Johnson has a very close relationship with her children. She would always be in route to them as soon as they called crying from school when others hurt them due to racial discrimination. Johnson reminded her children, “don’t take no wooden nickels.” This saying stresses the importance of being cautious and not to take anything at face value. She is known for being very trustworthy and often helped take care of seniors in her community. These seniors often called her before their own kin when they needed assistance. Johnson refused pay except for maybe a home cooked meal on occasion.

Janie Johnson also touches on her marriage and consequent divorce in this interview. Johnson is a very resilient woman in both her personal life and in her efforts to maintain ownership of her parent’s house. Due to the house’s location, developers constantly make her offers to buy the land, but she tears up their letters. Johnson has even hired an out of town real estate lawyer so they would not be biased towards the Chapel Hill developers. Her faith helps her maintain this resilience. Janie Johnson has enjoyed her conversations with the Jackson Center and even just enjoys casual chats on her porch with staff and volunteers.

Food takes center stage for Janie Johnson. In this interview, she describes in vivid imagery, along with accompanying envisioned smells, the kitchens of her mother and grandmother and all the food that came out of them. Several times, Ms. Johnson mentions how the sassafras tea that her grandmother made would soothe the nerves and serve as a home remedy She also describes a motley of cobblers her family made, including: strawberry, blackberry, peach, pear, and sweet potato. Over the course of the entire interview, Ms. Johnson remarks about the evolution of phrases such as “soup pots” to “stock pots” and “in the blood” to “in the DNA.” Other food discussed includes biscuits, fresh pork, chicken and dumplings, coleslaw, and black eye peas.
Ms. Johnson also makes mention of her family and childhood growing up on Lloyd St. in Carrboro, NC. She attended Northside and went to First Baptist Church with the reverend Dr. J.R. Manley at the time. She also discusses black owned business of the time (1960s). Ms. Johnson also goes on to talk about her career working for UNC in various capacities such as in undergraduate admissions, a data entry operator, and accounting clerk at Lineberger Cancer Research Center.