{{Short description|Public figure in Mississippi, United States (1917–1995)}} {{Use American English|date=March 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2026}} {{Infobox person | name = Erle Johnston | birth_name = Erle Ennis Johnston Jr. | birth_date = {{Birth date|1917|10|10}} | birth_place = Garyville, Louisiana, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1995|09|26|1917|10|10}} | death_place = Jackson, Mississippi, U.S. | occupation = Public official, newspaperman, author, mayor }} '''Erle Ennis Johnston Jr. ''' (October 10, 1917 – September 26, 1995) was an American public official, newspaperman, author, and mayor in Mississippi. He was campaign associate for Ross Barnett and wrote a biography of the segregationist governor. In 1960, Barnett appointed him public relations director of the pro-segregation Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission. Johnston became its executive director and continued to hold the public relations duties. He held the position under Governor Paul B. Johnson Jr. before resigning in 1968. He worked at ''The Scott County Times'' newspaper, before buying it.<ref>{{cite web |title=Johnston, Erle (biography) |url=http://crdl.usg.edu/people/j/johnston_erle/?Welcome |access-date=April 14, 2016 |publisher=Civil Rights Digital Library, Digital Library of Georgia}}</ref> Johnston was mayor of Forest, Mississippi, from 1981 to 1985.<ref name=encyc/>

== Biography == Erle Ennis Johnston Jr. was born on October 10, 1917, in Garyville, Louisiana.<ref name="encyc">{{cite web |last=Ownby |first=Ted |date=July 11, 2017 |title=Johnston, Erle |url=https://mississippiencyclopedia.org/entries/erle-johnson/#:~:text=Erle%20Johnston%20died%20on%2027,Mississippi%27s%20rules%20about%20racial%20segregation |website=Mississippi Encyclopedia |publisher=Center for Study of Southern Culture}}</ref> He attended Grenada High School in Grenada, Mississippi.<ref name="papers" />

In 1960, Ross Barnett appointed him public relations director of the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission, a state agency tasked with fighting desegregation and controlling civil rights activism. It is believed that Johnston prepared some of Percy Greene's articles, speeches, telegrams, and letters; Greene was an African-American newspaper editor in Jackson, Mississippi that had been employed by the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=July 30, 1989 |title=Sovereignty Commission Records Show Owner of Black Newspaper Worked for Group |url=https://apnews.com/article/2a4fd050a3da9757dd79536c94fe228f |access-date=2023-06-23 |website=AP NEWS |language=en}}</ref>

In May 1962, Johnson gave a commencement speech at his former high school, Grenada High School, titled "The Practical Way to Maintain a Separate School System in Mississippi" in which he criticized the "extremism" of the NAACP and Citizens Councils.<ref name="encyc" /> He oversaw production of the Sovereignty Commission's film ''The Message from Mississippi'' (1960).''<ref name="encyc" />''

He wrote the books, ''I Rolled with Ross: A Political Portrait'' (1980), ''Mississippi’s Defiant Years, 1953–1973'' (1990), and ''Politics: Mississippi Style'' (1993).<ref name="encyc" />

He was interviewed July 30, 1980, for ''Eyes on the Prize'' (1985), the civil rights movement documentary television series.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Interview with Erle Johnston |url=http://repository.wustl.edu/concern/videos/7h149r60g |website=Washington University in St. Louis}}</ref> The University of Southern Mississippi has a collection of his papers.<ref name="papers">{{Cite web |title=Erle E. Johnston, Jr. Papers |url=https://lib.usm.edu/spcol/collections/manuscripts/finding_aids/m319 |website=The University of Southern Mississippi -- McCain Library and Archives}}</ref>

Johnston died September 26, 1995, from heart failure while in hospital in Jackson, Mississippi.<ref name="Obituary">{{cite news |date=28 September 1995 |title=Obituary for Erle E. Johnston Jr. |pages=12 |work=The Clarion-Ledger |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113485923/obituary-for-erle-e-johnston-jr/ |access-date=22 November 2022 |via=Newspaper.com}}{{Open access}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, Erle}} Category:1917 births Category:1995 deaths Category:People from St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana Category:People from Grenada, Mississippi Category:American public relations people Category:Journalists from Mississippi Category:Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission members Category:People from Forest, Mississippi Category:20th-century American male writers