Bertha F. Johnson graduated from medical school in 1905. She was married to a farmer and had no children. Her great-grandparents, Daniel Lightner and Polly Seward were abolitionists in Indiana. No other biographical information is available.
Papers include reminiscences by Johnson's grandmother, Elvira Lightner Allen, of slavery and the abolition movement. One relates the experience of her father, Daniel Lightner, who witnessed the cruelty of slavery as a boy; another describes memories of her parent's Underground Railway station in Indiana. In addition, there is a description of Dr. John H. Kelloggs's Battle Creek Sanitarium written by a patient to Johnson's husband in 1900. Correspondence to Sophia Smith Collection Director Margaret Grierson from Dr. Bertha Johnson (circa 1949-57) include her own reminiscences of her professional life and acquaintances including Emma Goldman and Helen Tufts Bailie.
The papers are open to research according to the regulations of the Sophia Smith Collection.
Copyright ownership for the Bertha F. Johnson Papers is unknown. It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyrights. Permission to publish reproductions or quotations beyond "fair use" must also be obtained from the Sophia Smith Collection as owners of the physical property.
Please use the following format when citing materials from this collection:
Bertha F. Johnson Papers, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College, Northampton, Mass.
Finding aid revised by Carrie Baldwin (intern), 2008.