University of North Carolina at Asheville
D.H. Ramsey Library
Special Collections/University Archives

Manuscript and Photograph Register
for

Frances Johnson Collection
(1930 - 2005)

M2005.9.1

"Frances Johnson" (joh0001), 
Frances Johnson Collection (1920 - 2005), 
D.H. Ramsey Library, Special Collections, UNC Asheville 28804
Title Frances Johnson Collection (1930 - 2005)
Creator Frances Johnson
Identifier http://toto.lib.unca.edu/findingaids/mss/johnson_frances/johnson_f__default.htm
Subject Keyword :
Frances Johnson ; Asheville, N.C. ; Asheville Buncombe County Technical College ; education ; registrar ; World War II ; radio ; engineering ; WWNC ;
Subject LCSH :
Johnson, Frances
Creasman, W.B.
Radio broadcasting -- Vocational guidance
Description Small collection of photographs, notebooks and thesis of Frances Johnson related to her life in Asheville, NC.
Publisher D.H. Ramsey Library, Special Collections, University of North Carolina at Asheville, 28804
Contributor  
Date 2005-09-30
Type Collection ; Text 
Format 1 manuscript box
Source M2005.9.1
Language English
Relation  
Coverage 1930-2005 ; Asheville, NC 
Rights Any display, publication or public use must credit D.H. Ramsey Library, Special Collections, University of North Carolina at Asheville.
Copyright retained by the authors of certain items in the collection, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Donor Donor number 203
Acquisition  2005-09-30
Citation Frances Johnson Collection (1930-2005), D.H. Ramsey Library, Special Collections, University of North Carolina at Asheville 28804
Processed by Special Collections staff, 2005-10-04
Biography Frances Nelson Johnson's life was one of understatement, but one filled with exceptional achievement. A native of Asheville, she was born on May 15, 1921 and was the daughter of Clarence Rex and Bertha (Puryear) Nelson. She attended Biltmore Jr. College and  Cecil's Business College in Asheville, NC and in 1942, after graduating from the Capitol Radio Engineering Institute, she was recognized by Broadcast Magazine as the second woman to receive a degree in radio engineering in the United States. After more than two decades in radio engineering, she returned to school at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Institute and quickly received a B.A. in Psychology from UNC. In 1974 she again returned to school at Appalachian State and received a Master of Arts in Education. She was then 53 years old.

Frances worked most of her life at a variety of jobs, and many times she combined her careers. Her first job after graduating from the Capitol Radio Engineering Institute was as a radio engineer with the western North Carolina radio station, WWNC, Asheville.  She held this position from 1942 until 1965. She also served as the Secretary-Treasurer of Creasman Radio-TV, Inc., Asheville from 1951 until 1961 and later became the Director of that business. From 1961 - 1967 she served as the equipment coordinator for Asheville-Buncombe Technical Institute and moved from that position to the Registrar's Office at the same institution. She was the Registrar at AB Tech until her retirement in the late 1980's and many staff and students at that institution remember her well.

As a member of the Student Services Personnel Association she served on the executive board for the department of Community Colleges of that association.  She also served on several North Carolina vocational associations. She was a life-long Democrat and a member of the Baptist church. Her work with the Baptist church included the Baptist Club and the Asheville Quota club where she was the secretary-treasurer for the nineteenth district international. 

She was married late in life to Walter A. Johnson on October 24, 1965 and juggled her home life with her new husband in Boone, NC and her responsibilities in Asheville by commuting back and forth between the two mountain communities. She died of cancer in Asheville, NC in August 2005 at the age of 84.
   
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