Photos: Remembering Leroy Johnson

Politics

Photos: Remembering Leroy Johnson

Johnson was the first black Georgia senator elected after Reconstruction

Georgia state senator Leroy Johnson. (Bill Wilson/AJC staff)

June 6, 2016, Atlanta: Former state Sen. Leroy Johnson recounts how he helped arrange Muhammad Ali's first fight after Ali denounced the Vietnam War. Ben Gray / bgray@ajc.com

Leroy Johnson, his wife, Cleopatra, pose with boxer Muhammad Ali before his boxing match in Atlanta in 1970. Johnson, a Georgia state senator at the time, was the promoter of the fight.

Leroy R. Johnson, Georgia?s first African American in the state senate in 92 years, poses on March 26, 1963 at the door of his office in Atlanta. The 34-year-old attorney predicts that the racial fence around the state Democratic Party will fall under the weight of African American ballots. He says he got a surprisingly warm reception in the otherwise white legislature which has just ended. (AP Photo/HC)

MARCH 6, 2013-ATLANTA: Leroy Johnson (left) & Bobby Rowan, who were members of the 1963 Senate, chat in the Georgia State Senate Chambers in Atlanta on Weds. March 6th, 2013. In the winter of 1963, the Georgia Senate was the center of the New World that the state had entered. A year earlier, federal courts had dismantled the "county-unit system," which gave rural counties inordinate power in the legislature. The move allowed the election to the Senate of Leroy Johnson, the first black legislator since reconstruction. Also in that chamber was a rookie senator named Jimmy Carter, a sophomore named Zell Miller and future building magnate, the late JB Fuqua. Carl Sanders was the new progressive governor, who later became a mortal enemy of Carter's and the nameplate on one of the region's biggest law firms. The session saw some racial barriers fall in a quiet manner not seen in other Southern States. PHIL SKINNER / PSKINNER@AJC.COM

editor's note: CQ

Atlanta, GA - May 28, 1964 - State Sen. LeRoy Johnson, right, confers with colleague Sen. James Wesberry at the capitol in Atlanta where the quiet spoken Johnson is a minority of one in the Georgia in the Georgia lawmaking body. Johnson, first Negro elected to the senate in 92 years, has, to his surprise, won approval of such things as an antipoll tax resolution and a measure drastically reducing voter qualifications. (AP Wirephoto)

110404 Atlanta : Former Georgia Senator LeRoy Johnson - was the first African-American elected to Georgiaâs Senate since Reconstruction in 1962, waves to the crowd after he was recognized Monday. Actor, comedian, Bill Cosby was the Master of Ceremonies for the SCLC Annual Dream Keeper's at the Melia Hotel, 590 West Peachtree Street in Atlanta on Monday, Apr. 4, 2011. The National Southern Leadership Conference breakfast featured US Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II from Missouri as their keynote speaker. SCLC President, Howard Creecy Jr. along with SCLC national board chair, Rev., Dr. Sylvia Tucker shared the podium with Bill Cosby during a 6 AM press conference at the hotel to talk about the direction and future of the SCLC. John Spink jspink@ajc.com

Hank Aaron, Ted Turner, and Leroy Johnson talk before press conference announcing a statue to be constructed and placed at Atlanta Fulton County Stadium in honor of Hank Aaron. Bud Skinner / AJC Staff

080427. ATLANTA. Former Georgia Governor Carl Sanders cq (right), 82, and former state Senator Leroy Johnson cq, 79, chats about the old days at the state Capitol. The two are participating in a oral history project where they discuss their part in desegregating the state Capitol in 1963. For Jim Galloway Political Insider column. Rich Addicks / AJC

Leroy Johnson, a Georgia state senator at the time, was the promoter of the 1970 bout between Muhammad Ali and Jerry Quarry. (Steve Hummer/AJC)

Atlanta, GA - Dec. 17, 1962 - State senator-elect Leroy R. Johnson (right) at his seat at the Capitol. (AP Wirephoto)

Retired baseball player Henry Aaron, right, rocks in laughter as he hears former boxer Muhammad Ali, left, describe the wonder to those in the presence of the worlds greatest boxer and the greatest baseball player of all time at an Atlanta press conference on Dec. 1, 1976. Ali reaffirmed his retirement from boxing, promoted his biographical movie and the business venture of Leroy Johnson, center, Atlanta businessman who sponsored Alis 1970 comeback. (AP Photo/Charles Kelly)

Boxer Muhammad Ali with Sen. Leroy Johnson at a press conference, 1976 (Charles R. Pugh Jr. / The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

Senator Leroy Johnson with his family in the Georgia State Senate, 1963. (Charles R. Pugh Jr. / The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

1/14

Georgia state senator Leroy Johnson. (Bill Wilson/AJC staff)

Today's Gallery Headlines

The Center tour

PHOTOS: An early look at CNN Center's redevelopment in downtown Atlanta

Wayfair Tour

PHOTOS: Wayfair opens first Atlanta store

Atlanta Hawks host the Boston Celtics

PHOTOS: Hawks defeat Celtics in key East battle

People march in Bishop Park in Athens on Saturday, March 28, 2026. Protesters gathered in 10 different locations around Georgia’s Congressional District 10, leading up to a “Democracy Fair” at Bishop Park as part of a nationwide day of “No Kings” demonstrations. Organizers estimate that a few thousand people participated, many of them first-time protesters. (C.J. Bartunek for the AJC)

PHOTOS: 'No Kings' rally at Bishop Park in Athens, Ga.

More Galleries

0012406527

PHOTOS: Julian Bond — denied but not defeated

Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr (right) confers with state Sen. RaShaun Kemp, D-Atlanta, at the Wild Hog supper, the traditional kickoff to the legislative session in Atlanta, on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (Miguel Martinez/AJC)

PHOTOS: Georgia legislative session kicks off with Wild Hog Supper

Fani Willis testifies

PHOTOS: Fani Willis testifies before state Senate panel

Vance leans into pitchman role for Trump’s tax law in Georgia

PHOTO: Vice President JD Vance speaks to Georgia Republicans