Bertha Johnston graduated from the Framingham Normal School in July 1885. She then moved to the Midwest and enrolled in the Chicago Kindergarten Institute. In 1897, Ms. Johnston became editor of Kindergarten Magazine, continuing in Chicago until her 1904 relocation to Brooklyn, NY, where she continued to publish until 1909 when it was renamed The Kindergarten-Primary Magazine. During this time, she also wrote columns for the monthly magazine Everywhere, and published two books, Home Occupations for Boys and Girls and Lyrical Lines for Lasses and Lads.
Ms. Johnston’s impressive bibliography spans seventy years and includes novels, short stories, poems, articles, and pamphlets. Later in her life, Johnston would often recall events from a childhood filled with visits from prominent writers, including Walt Whitman and Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Her father, John Henry Johnston, kept in the circles of these literary giants, which no doubt impacted his daughter’s own endeavors.
Ms. Johnston was active in the suffrage movement. She was a member of the New York City Woman’s Suffrage League and the Women’s Political Union. These groups advocated women’s rights and succeeded in placing women in police stations and other civil service jobs. Some members addressed Congress and State Legislatures on behalf of women’s suffrage.
In a column she wrote for the October 1933 issue of the Gatepost, Ms. Johnston fondly reminisces about her experiences at the Framingham Normal School. She recalls meeting the ‘brave pioneers’ of the first class during the semi centennial celebrations, remarking that all future graduates ‘should be forever grateful’ for the bold steps these women took. In a particularly happy memory, she recalls spending free time with fellow students sewing and being read to by Principal Ellen Hyde. These hand sewn clothes would be sent to the Tuskegee Normal School at Christmas time.
Ms. Johnston passed away on February 21st, 1953 after undergoing surgery to remove a cataract and subsequently battling pneumonia for a year.