Edith Emerald Johns
{{Short description|Winnebago-Nez Perce nurse (1915–1999)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Edith Emerald Johns
| image = Edith_Emerald_Big_Fire_Johns.jpg
| alt =
| caption = 1971 as head caseworker of St. Augustine's Center for the American Indian in Chicago
| birth_name = Edith Big Fire Johns
| native_name = Patche-Ka-Danga
| native_name_lang = Winnebago
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1915|01|19}}
| birth_place = Winnebago Reservation in Thurston County, Nebraska
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1999|06|10|1915|01|19}}
| death_place = Chicago, Illinois
| nationality = American
| other_names = Edith Syfczak
| occupation = nurse, Native American activist
| years_active = 1937-1999
| known_for =
| notable_works =
}}
Edith Emerald Johns (Winnebago name: Patche-Ka-Danga) also Edith Big Fire Johns (1915–1999) Winnebago-Nez Perce was an American nurse and community leader in the Chicago area in the mid-20th century. She was one of the founding staff of the Native American Educational Services College and was inducted into the Chicago Women's Hall of Fame and the Chicago Senior Citizens Hall of Fame.
Early life
Edith Big Fire Johns was born January 19, 1915, on the Winnebago Reservation in Thurston County, Nebraska.{{sfn|University of Chicago Library|2009}} Her father was a member of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska and her mother was Nez Perce.{{sfn|Vigil|1999}} From the age of eleven, Johns attended school away from her family at an American Indian boarding school.{{sfn|Grahnke|1999|p=2}} In 1937, she completed nursing school{{sfn|Steinem|2012|p=494}} in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, and then moved to Chicago.{{sfn|University of Chicago Library|2009}}
Career
Johns worked at several hospitals in the Chicago area, including the Bethany Hospital and the Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center.{{sfn|University of Chicago Library|2009}} Johns spent a decade as a caseworker at St. Augustine's Center for the American Indian{{sfn|Grahnke|1999|p=2}} and by 1971 was the chief caseworker.{{sfn|The Chicago Sun-Times|1971}}
Johns was very involved in the urban Indian movement of the 1960s and 1970s, giving speeches and attending meetings.{{sfn|The Daily Herald|1964|p=50}} In 1968, Johns attended the National Urban Indian Consultation in Seattle, which was founded to focus on the problems of urban Native Americans, as the National Congress of American Indians was seen as too focused on reservation issues.{{sfn|LaGrand|2002|p=224}} Johns was one of the founders, along with Willard LaMere,{{cite journal |last1=Janusz |first1=Mucha |date=1983 |title=From Prairie to the City: Transformation of Chicago's American Indian Community. |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40553015 |journal= Urban Anthropology |volume=12 |issue=3/4 |pages=337–371 |jstor=40553015 |access-date=28 October 2020}} of the Chicago American Indian Center (AIC) and served on its board of directors between 1960 and 1971.{{sfn|University of Chicago Library|2009}} The center offered cultural programs and fellowship{{sfn|The Hyde Park Herald|1958|p=6}} allowing members to share their skills. Johns was a skilled beadworker and shared her knowledge of the craft.{{sfn|Steinem|2012|p=494}}
Johns was a founding staff member of the Native American Educational Services College (NAES).{{sfn|University of Chicago Library|2009}} NAES was founded in 1974 to address the lack of higher education opportunities for urban Indians{{sfn|Fixico|2006|p=53}}{{sfn|Laukaitis|2015|p=104}} and Johns was hired as an instructor in 1975. She taught a course, "Dynamics of Community Health" which dealt with health care, development and patient rights.{{sfn|Laukaitis|2015|p=108}} Johns worked at the college until 1978, when she left to work as the assistant nursing director of Somerset Residential Care Center.{{sfn|Laukaitis|2015|p=212}}
Johns returned to college, attending the College of St. Francis in Joliet, Illinois, and earned her bachelor's degree in 1977.{{sfn|Vigil|1999}} At the age of 65, Johns joined the Peace Corps and served as a nurse in Dominica{{sfn|Steinem|2012|p=494}} for two years. She also traveled to Australia and New Zealand to meet with indigenous people there. In 1990, she began working at O'Hare International Airport for Travelers and Immigrants Aid and assists with infants arriving for adoption, runaways, and those in need of assistance when traveling through or immigrating through the airport.{{sfn|Steinem|2012|p=494}}
Johns died on June 10, 1999, in Chicago{{sfn|Vigil|1999}} and was buried in Rosehill Cemetery. She was survived by two sons, Harold Johns and David Syfczak.{{sfn|Grahnke|1999|p=2}}
Awards and honors
Johns was inducted into the Chicago Women's Hall of Fame, as well as Chicago's Senior Citizens Hall of Fame.{{sfn|University of Chicago Library|2009}}
References
=Citations=
{{Reflist|30em}}
=Bibliography=
{{refbegin|30em}}
- {{cite book|last=Fixico|first=Donald Lee |title=Daily Life of Native Americans in the Twentieth Century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P5EZWtJl-vwC&pg=PA53|year=2006|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|location=Westport, Connecticut|isbn=978-0-313-33357-6}}
- {{cite news|last1=Grahnke|first1=Lon|title=Edith Big Fire Johns, nurse, volunteer|url=https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4496535.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181118101300/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4496535.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 18, 2018|access-date=17 August 2016|publisher=The Chicago Sun-Times|date=June 13, 1999|location=Chicago, Illinois |via=HighBeam}}
- {{cite book|last=LaGrand|first=James B.|title=Indian Metropolis: Native Americans in Chicago, 1945-75|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EiU3e1oKr-UC&pg=PA224|year=2002|publisher=University of Illinois Press|location=Urbana, Illinois|isbn=978-0-252-02772-7}}
- {{cite book|last=Laukaitis|first=John J.|title=Community Self-Determination: American Indian Education in Chicago, 1952-2006|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ozCLCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA104|year=2015|publisher=SUNY Press|location=Albany, New York|isbn=978-1-4384-5769-7}}
- {{cite book|last=Steinem|first=Gloria|title=Moving Beyond Words: Essays on Age, Rage, Sex, Power, Money, Muscles: Breaking the Boundaries of Gender|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TapGzHxQIwMC&pg=PT494|year=2012|publisher=Open Road Media|location=New York, New York|isbn=978-1-4532-5017-4}}
- {{cite news|last1=Vigil|first1=Jennifer|title=Native American Advocate Edith Emerald Johns|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1999/06/13/native-american-advocate-edith-emerald-johns/|access-date=9 August 2016|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=June 13, 1999|location=Chicago, Illinois}}
- {{cite news|ref={{harvid|The Daily Herald|1964}}|author=|title=Arlington Clubwomen Plan Used Book Fair|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6172739/the_daily_herald/|access-date=10 August 2016|newspaper=The Daily Herald|date=February 6, 1964|location=Arlington Heights, Illinois|via = Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}
- {{cite web|ref={{harvid|University of Chicago Library|2009}} |title=Guide to the Native American Educational Services Edith E. Johns Papers 1959-1999 |url=https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/scrc/findingaids/view.php?eadid=ICU.SPCL.NAESJOHNSE |publisher=University of Chicago Library |access-date=9 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120703133329/http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/scrc/findingaids/view.php?eadid=ICU.SPCL.NAESJOHNSE |archive-date=July 3, 2012 |location=Chicago, Illinois |date=2009 |url-status=dead }}
- {{cite news|ref={{harvid|The Hyde Park Herald|1958}}|author=|title=Perform American Indian Ceremonial Dances Sunday|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/profile/susun-wilkinson/clipnumber/66182/|access-date=10 August 2016|newspaper=The Hyde Park Herald|date=February 26, 1958|location=Hyde Park, Illinois|via = Newspaperarchive.com}} {{open access}}
- {{cite news |ref={{harvid|The Chicago Sun-Times|1971}} |title=(untitled clipping) |url=http://www.ebay.com.my/itm/1971-Press-Photo-Edith-Johns-Leader-At-St-Augustines-Center-For-American-Indians-/371674354576?hash=item5689849390:g:YNAAAOSweWVXe1SQ |access-date=17 August 2016 |publisher=The Chicago Sun-Times |date=August 13, 1971 |location=Chicago, Illinois |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160817151155/http://www.ebay.com.my/itm/1971-Press-Photo-Edith-Johns-Leader-At-St-Augustines-Center-For-American-Indians-/371674354576?hash=item5689849390%3Ag%3AYNAAAOSweWVXe1SQ |archive-date=August 17, 2016 |url-status=dead }}
{{refend}}
External Sources
- [https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/scrc/findingaids/view.php?eadid=ICU.SPCL.NAESJOHNSE Guide to the Native American Educational Services Edith E. Johns Papers 1959-1999] at the University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Johns, Edith Emerald}}
Category:People from Thurston County, Nebraska
Category:Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska people
Category:University of St. Francis alumni
Category:American women nurses
Category:Indigenous rights activists
Category:20th-century American women
Category:20th-century American people
Category:20th-century Native American women