1891: A Novel about Stanford University

I was putting the final touches to the first version of the novel I was writing about Stanford University (There would be countless more.) when I read the article about Ernest Johnson in the Stanford Magazine article for November/December of 2004. Ernest was the first and only African American to graduate from Stanford for the next fifty years. He got his AB in economics in 1895 and then studied law for the next two years without getting his degree. He contracted tuberculosis and died in February of 1898. Thus ended the life of an individual whom might have made significant contributions to the status of his fellow African Americans.

By the time I found out all this, it was too late to have him as a significant character in my first book, 1891: A Novel about Stanford University. The best I could do, during the novel, was to have David Starr Jordan refuse to acknowledge several letters from Beverly Johnson, Ernest’s father, which mentioned Mrs. Stanford recommendation. Dr. Jordan was justified to do this because no Negroes were being admitted. To my knowledge, this same policy referred to Jewish people. Although, several Japanese and later some Chinese were admitted. At the end of my novel, Mrs. Stanford insists, and Dr. Jordan demurs and tells his registrar, Orrin (Leslie) Elliott (One of my main characters) to send a letter of acceptance to Ernest for the second semester, beginning in February, and that is when Ernest will appear in my second novel, 1892.

This period of time was life threatening for African Americans. The number of lynchings reached its zenith. Any movement towards eliminating black crow laws was curtailed. Luckily, Ernest was raised in Sacramento and his persistent father was able to have him schooled in Anglo-Saxon schools. It is even more remarkable that Mrs. Stanford took that much of an interest in his education.

The article in the Stanford Magazine indicates that UC-Berkeley accepted Ernest after he graduated from high school, but I doubt it. I did some research after finding out about Ernest and I thought Cal might have been more liberal, but the first African American to graduate from there was in the twenties. It would be fifty more years before an African American would get his degree from Stanford.

In getting his degree, Ernest would have needed an infrastructure to support his journey through those four years. I created a fictional one, which had as its primary foundation, Leslie Elliott and his wife, Ellen. I know for a fact from a directory published during that period that Ernest lived in the Elliott’s residence. Ellen refers in her book to a student living in the attic, and it must have been Ernest. Additionally, I have a group of students from the 1891 who were perfect to support him. One is a Jew, another is a student with two wooden legs, the third is Chinese, and last two are two footballers. I am also working on a fictional theory about why Mrs. Stanford was interested.

Ernest Johnson graduated in the Class of 1895 and my books will honor him for that.