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Charles Ellicott Johnson (1920-1969), accountant and university administrator, was born on September 7, 1920 in Worland, Wyoming, to Palmer Johnson and Rose Ellicott. Johnson entered the University of Minnesota in 1939 and studied accounting and business administration. He graduated in 1942 and married Jeanne, with whom he would have three children. Johnson worked as an accountant before serving in World War II. He returned to the University of Minnesota after his service, earning his MBA in 1948 and his PhD in 1952.
Charles Johnson came to the University of Oregon in 1952 as an Associate Professor in Business Administration and became a full Professor in 1957. In 1959, he was appointed as Head of the Department of Accounting and Business Statistics, and then became Dean of the College of Liberal Arts in 1963. Johnson was appointed as Acting President of the University of Oregon in 1968. Johnson’s presidency was defined by several controversies, including the dormitory grape boycott, athletes who were disciplined for refusing to cut their hair, and obscenities printed in the Emerald. During his tenure, Navy recruiters were harassed by activists, a shanty town was set up on the campus lawn, and there were numerous protests over the Vietnam War, civil rights, and freedoms. Charles E. Johnson was killed in an automobile accident on June 17, 1969.
The Charles E. Johnson papers cover the professional activities of Johnson, beginning with his career as an accountant in 1942, following his various administrative positions at the University of Oregon, and ending with his tenure as Acting President of the University of Oregon in 1968. The collection includes biographical material, personal and professional correspondence, speeches, reports, schedules, publications, and clippings that relate to his professional career as an accountant and to his positions at the University of Oregon. The collection is organized into five series: I: Biographical Material, II: Correspondence, III: Speeches, IV: Reports and Schedules, V: Publications and Clippings.
The biographical material contains various biographical notes written by Johnson and information on his fellowship from the Ford Foundation.
The original organization of the correspondence into three categories was maintained: job offers, personal correspondence, and professional correspondence.
The files relating to Johnson’s speeches comprise the bulk of the collection. The speech series is organized alphabetically by the title of the speech, and by the subject of the speech when no title was available. Speech transcripts are included here as well as files containing information on speech ideas.
The reports and schedules series contains reports on the University of Oregon and Johnson’s schedule as Dean of the College of Liberal Arts.
The publications and clippings series include book reviews and an article on management and accounting principles written by Johnson, and various clippings relating to educational and business-related topics. Although the collection does contain some personal correspondence, the collection mostly pertains to Johnson's professional activities. There are no files relating to Johnson’s military service in World War II. The files relating specifically to Johnson’s tenure as Acting President of the University of Oregon are contained in a separate Office of the President collection; please see the related materials note.