1933-2019
Alt names: Bailey, Manigault, Mason
Edwina Johnson lived with her parents and siblings at 56 Ridgewood Ave in Newark and attended South Side High (now Shabazz). Her father was a taxi driver.
In Jun of 1949, when she was 16, Edwina and her brother Marshall, along with their father, stopped in Montgomery, AL, on the way home from the funeral of their grandfather in Brunswick, GA. Edwina and Marshall got on to a City Line bus and took seats in the “white section”.
The bus driver S T Law, asked the two to move to the back of the bus. Marshall did, after “considerable argument”. However, Edwina refused, saying, “Where I come from we can sit anywhere we want to. I paid my fare same as everyone else on the bus did and I’m going to sit where I want to.”
Law pushed Edwina and Marshall out of the bus, some accounts say he drew a gun on them, and they were arrested. After pleading guilty, claiming they did not know about the laws, the two were released on probation with their father, after being held for 2 days.
In her autobiography, Rosa Parks cites the case of Edwina and Marshall as one of many that inspired her historic act of protest, stating she remembered this case “especially”.
In 1951, Edwina married Samuel Manigault and in 1960 she married James Mason. In 1995 she married Sinclair Hale.
In 1974, “Mrs. Edwina Johnson Bailey a native of Newark” was selected chief of personnel for the US Marshalls. In 1976, she was officially made Personal Officer making her the highest ranking woman in the US Marshalls, and the first Black person and first woman to direct a division of the service. More research is needed to confirm if this is the same person or a different Edwina Johnson from Newark.
Bibliography
“Newark Youths Held In Segregation Case” Star Ledger Jun 30, 1949
“Alabamans Free Young Teenagers” Newark News Jul 1, 1949
“Get Probation in Race Case” Star Ledger Jul 1, 1949
Parks, Rosa “Rosa Parks, My Story”
“The New Chief” Star Ledger Sept 26, 1974
“Marshalls Service Promotes Woman” Star Ledger Feb 11, 1976