Martha Johnson papers

The Martha Johnson papers house the papers of Martha Johnson, owner of the Francis Scott Key Bookshop in Georgetown. The papers, which span the years 1944 to 1987 (with the majority of the material dating from 1960 to 1975), document the operations of the bookshop and of Johnson and Thompson Literary Agency.

The collection is organized into four series: “Series I: Correspondence,” “Series II: Manuscripts,” “Series III: Other Papers,” and “Series IV: Photographs.”

“Series I: Correspondence” is organized into two subseries: “Business Correspondence” and “Personal Correspondence.” “Business Correspondence” consists of correspondence pertaining to the Francis Scott Key Bookshop and the Literary Agency. The Literary Agency correspondence is split between clients and non-clients, with the client correspondence being organized by client and date and the non-client correspondence alphabetized from A-Z, consisting solely of letters of rejection. The Miscellaneous Correspondence consists of letters which were clearly related to the business but unable to determine which business or client they were referring to. “Personal Correspondence” consists of solely incoming mail and is organized by recipient. The subgroups are Johnson, Martha; Thompson, Doris; Johnson and Thompson, and Unknown. “Personal Correspondence” consists mostly of letters to or from Martha Johnson that were independent of business matters. Correspondents include people such as Edith Hamilton, Eleanor Roosevelt, Orville Prescott, Harper Lee, E.B. White, and others. Many of the letters reflect the writer’s appreciation of Johnson’s efforts to promote their works. “Series II: Manuscripts” is organized by writer’s last name. The manuscripts consist mostly of client’s manuscripts including Helen Hill Miller, John Patterson, Donald Eliot, etc. “Series III: Other Papers” is arranged into seven subgroups: “Business Papers,” “Financial Papers,” “Legal Papers,” “Newspaper Clippings,” “Other Papers,” “Publications,” and “Miscellaneous.” “Business Papers” consists of Johnson and Thompson’s handwritten documents about their interactions with clients, promotional materials, and royalty records and reports. “Financial Papers” consists of banking papers, expense reports, and tax information. “Legal Papers” consists mostly of author’s contracts and other legal documents. The newspaper clipping are mostly related to the business but also include current events of the time. The materials found in “Publications” range from brochures and newsletters from publishers to a copy of Alligators and Music by Donald Elliot, one of their clients. “Series IV: Photographs” consists of photographs that were sent by a client to be included in a manuscript as well as personal photographs from the store.

The Francis Scott Key Bookshop was a Georgetown institution for decades, with Martha Johnson heading it from the 1940s to the 1980s. This collection provides insight into the inner workings of the store, highlighting Johnson’s personal relationships with the authors she sponsored and with many of her clients. It would a valuable resource for anyone interested in the Francis Scott Key Bookshop, Martha Johnson, and Johnson and Thompson Literary Agency.