Editing Jack Johnson (boxer) (section)

==Personal life==
[[File:Jack Johnson boxer.jpg|thumb|Jack Johnson, c. 1910–1915]]
Johnson earned considerable sums endorsing various products, including patent medicines, and had several expensive hobbies such as automobile racing and tailored clothing, as well as purchasing jewelry and furs for his wives.<ref>Papa Jack, Jack Johnson and the Era of the White Hopes, Randy Roberts, Macmillan, 1983, page 132.</ref> He challenged champion racer [[Barney Oldfield]] to an auto race at the [[Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn]] dirt track. Oldfield easily defeated Johnson.<ref>Barney Oldfield, The Life and Times of America's Speed King, William Nolan, Brown Fox Books, 2002.</ref> Once, when he was pulled over for a $50 speeding ticket, he gave the officer a $100 bill; when the officer protested that he could not make change for that much, Johnson told him to keep the change as he was going to make his return trip at the same speed.<ref name=Burns/> In 1920, Johnson opened the [[Club Deluxe]], a [[Black and Tan clubs|Black and Tan night club]] in [[Harlem, Manhattan|Harlem]]; he sold it three years later to a gangster, [[Owney Madden]], who renamed it the [[Cotton Club (New York City)|Cotton Club]].

Johnson's behavior was looked down upon by some in the African-American community, especially by the black scholar [[Booker T. Washington]], who said it "is unfortunate that a man with money should use it in a way to injure his own people, in the eyes of those who are seeking to uplift his race and improve its conditions, I wish to say emphatically that Jack Johnson's actions did not meet my personal approval and I am sure they do not meet with the approval of the colored race."

Johnson flouted conventions regarding the social and economic "place" of blacks in American society. As a black man, he broke a powerful taboo in consorting with white women and would verbally taunt men (both white and black) inside and outside the ring. When asked the secret of his staying power by a reporter who had watched a succession of women parade into, and out of, the champion's hotel room, Johnson supposedly said "Eat [[jellied eels]] and think distant thoughts".<ref>Stump, Al. 'The rowdy reign of the Black avenger'. ''True: The Men's Magazine'' January 1963.</ref>

In 1911, Johnson, through an acquaintance, attempted to become a [[Freemason]] in [[Dundee]], Scotland. He was initiated as an [[Entered Apprentice]] at Forfar and Kincardine Lodge No 225 in the city. However, there was some opposition to his membership from within the lodge, but mainly from the Grand Lodge who tried to stop the initiation from going ahead due to most Grand Lodges in the USA threatening to withdraw their Scottish Grand Lodge representation if it did. The Forfarshire Lodge was suspended by the Grand Lodge of Scotland, and Johnson's fees were returned to him and his admission was ruled illegal.<ref name=Contact>{{cite journal |title=News from the archives|journal=Contact |date=June 2009 |page=28 |url=http://www.dundee.ac.uk/pressoffice/contact/2009/june2009.pdf |access-date=August 15, 2013|publisher=University of Dundee|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002044125/http://www.dundee.ac.uk/pressoffice/contact/2009/june2009.pdf |archive-date=October 2, 2013 |quote=Upon seeing that he was to be admitted anyway, they telegraphed their fellow freemasons in America – and white American feelings ran high about the man who in the boxing ring had defeated several 'Great White Hopes'. Most Grand Lodges in the USA threatened to withdraw their Scottish Grand Lodge representation and this was why the Grand Lodge had somewhat frantically attempted to halt Johnson's initiation ceremony. The position of the Grand Lodge ultimately prevailed – some members of the local Lodge were suspended and Johnson had his fees returned. Any mention of his acceptance as an Entered Apprentice was removed from the records.|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

In July 1912, Johnson opened an interracial nightclub in Chicago called Café de Champion.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/history/ct-met-cafe-de-champion-jack-johnson-chicago-20180525-story.html|title=The short, sad story of Cafe de Champion — Jack Johnson's mixed-race nightclub on Chicago's South Side|last=Johnson|first=Charles J.|date=May 25, 2018|website=Chicago Tribune}}</ref>

Johnson wrote two memoirs of his life: ''Mes combats'' in 1914 and ''Jack Johnson in the Ring and Out'' in 1927.<ref name="inventors.about.com">{{cite web|url=http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blwrench1.htm|archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20081107142141/http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blwrench1.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 7, 2008|title=Jack Johnson|publisher=Inventors.about.com|access-date=September 30, 2014}}</ref>

In 1943, Johnson attended at least one service at the [[Pentecostal]] [[Angelus Temple]] in Los Angeles, California. In a public conversion, while Detroit, Michigan, burned in race riots, he professed his faith to [[Christ]] in a service conducted by evangelist [[Aimee Semple McPherson]]. She embraced him as "he raised his hand in worship".<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2007/04/30/070430crbo_books_updike |title=Famous Aimee |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |access-date=November 14, 2013 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222212652/http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2007/04/30/070430crbo_books_updike |archive-date=February 22, 2014}}</ref><ref>Sutton, Matthew. Aimee Semple McPherson and the Resurrection of Christian America. London: Harvard University Press, 2007</ref>

===Marriages===
[[File:Jack Johnson and his wife Etta LCCN2011649815 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Johnson with his wife Etta Duryea, who killed herself in 1912]]

Johnson engaged in various relationships, including three documented marriages. All of his documented wives were white. At the height of his career, Johnson was excoriated by the press for his flashy lifestyle and for having married white women.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/305329/|title=Jack Johnson|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=September 30, 2014}}</ref>

According to Johnson's 1927 autobiography, he married Mary Austin, a black woman from Galveston, Texas. No record exists of this marriage.<ref name="WOMEN" />

While in Philadelphia in 1903, Johnson met Clara Kerr, a black [[prostitute]]. According to Johnson's autobiography, Kerr left him for Johnson's friend, a racehorse trainer named William Bryant. They stole Johnson's jewelry and clothing when they left. Johnson tracked the couple down and had Kerr arrested on burglary charges. Johnson and Kerr reconciled for a while before she left him again.<ref name="WOMEN" />

During a three-month tour of Australia in 1907, Johnson had a brief affair with Alma "Lola" Toy, a white woman from Sydney. Johnson confirmed to an American journalist that he intended to marry Toy. When ''[[The Referee (newspaper)|The Referee]]'' printed Johnson's plans to marry Toy, it caused controversy in [[Sydney]]. Toy demanded a retraction and later won a libel lawsuit from the newspaper.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Jack Johnson, Rebel Sojourner: Boxing in the Shadow of the Global Color Line|last=Runstedtler|first=Theresa|publisher=University of California Press|year=2013|isbn=9780520280113}}</ref>

After returning from Australia, Johnson said that "the heartaches which Mary Austin and Clara Kerr caused me led me to forswear colored women and to determine that my lot henceforth would be cast only with white women."<ref name="WOMEN" />

Johnson met Etta Terry Duryea, a Brooklyn socialite and former wife of Clarence Duryea, at a car race in 1909. In 1910, Johnson hired a private investigator to follow Duryea after suspecting she was having an affair with his chauffeur. On Christmas Day, Johnson confronted Duryea and beat her to the point of hospitalization.<ref name="WOMEN">{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/unforgivable-blackness/women|title=The Women in Johnson's Life|website=PBS}}</ref> They reconciled and were married on January 18, 1911.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=February 10, 1912|title=Champion Johnson Weds White Woman|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SU19120210.2.188&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1|journal=Sacramento Union|access-date=December 31, 2019|archive-date=August 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801234245/https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SU19120210.2.188&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1|url-status=dead}}</ref> Prone to depression, her condition worsened due to Johnson's [[Domestic violence|abuse]] and [[infidelity]] in addition to the hostile reaction to their interracial relationship.<ref name=":1" /> Duryea [[Suicide attempt|attempted suicide]] twice before she died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound on September 11, 1912.<ref>{{Cite news|url= https://img.newspapers.com/img/img?id=33457078&width=557&height=2553&crop=3749_1210_919_4290&rotation=0&brightness=0&contrast=0&invert=0&ts=1577764897&h=0a6f1480cb2477076aedd1cf8dacf7da |title=Jack Johnson's Wife Commits Suicide At Her New Home|date=September 13, 1912|work=The Pittsburgh Courier}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Pugilist Says Wife Twice Saved Him|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2051003/pugilist_says_wife_twice_saved_him/|work=The Gazette Times|location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|date=September 13, 1912|page=6}}</ref>

In the summer of 1912, Johnson met Lucille Cameron, an 18-year-old prostitute from [[Minneapolis]] who relocated to Chicago, at his nightclub Café de Champion.<ref name=":1" /> Johnson hired her as his [[Shorthand|stenographer]], but shortly after Duryea's funeral, they were out in public as a couple. They married on December 3, 1912, at 3:00&nbsp;p.m.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Los Angeles Herald 3 December 1912 — California Digital Newspaper Collection|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=LAH19121203.2.16&srpos=6&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-jack+johnson+Lucille+Cameron-------1|access-date=2020-10-12|website=cdnc.ucr.edu}}</ref> Cameron filed for divorce in 1924 due to his infidelity.<ref name="WOMEN" />

Johnson met Irene Pineau at the race track in [[Aurora, Illinois]], in 1924. After she divorced her husband the following year, they were married in [[Waukegan, Illinois|Waukegan]] in August 1925. Johnson and Pineau were together until his death in 1946. When asked by a reporter at Johnson's funeral what she had loved about him, she replied: "I loved him because of his courage. He faced the world unafraid. There wasn't anybody or anything he feared."<ref name="WOMEN" />

===Prison sentence===
[[File:Jack Johnson and wife Lucille LCCN98510494 (cropped 2).jpg|thumb|Johnson with his wife Lucille in 1921. Their relationship led to Johnson's first 1912 arrest.|alt=]]
On October 18, 1912, Johnson was arrested on the grounds that his relationship with Lucille Cameron violated the Mann Act against "transporting women across state lines for immoral purposes" due to her being an alleged prostitute. Her mother also swore that her daughter was insane.<ref>{{cite news |title=Arrest Jack Johnson For Abducting Girl |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2051090/arrest_jack_johnson_for_abducting_girl/ |work=The York Daily |location=[[York, Pennsylvania]] |date=October 19, 1912 |page=1 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Cameron, soon to become his second wife, refused to cooperate and the case fell apart.

Less than a month later, Johnson was arrested again on similar charges.<ref name="auto2">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/24/sports/jack-johnson-pardon-trump.html|title=Trump Expected to Pardon Jack Johnson As Heavyweight Champions Gather|date=2018-05-24|work=The New York Times|access-date=2018-05-24|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> This time, the woman, another alleged prostitute named Belle Schreiber,<ref name="auto2"/> with whom he had been involved in 1909 and 1910, testified against him. In the courtroom of [[Kenesaw Mountain Landis]], the future [[Commissioner of Baseball (MLB)|Commissioner of Baseball]] who perpetuated the [[baseball color line]] until his death, Johnson was convicted by an [[all-white jury]] in June 1913,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/sportscentury/features/00014275.html|title=ESPN.com: Johnson boxed, lived on own terms|publisher=Espn.go.com |access-date=September 30, 2014}}</ref> although the incidents used to convict him took place before passage of the Mann Act.<ref name=Burns/> He was sentenced to a year and a day in prison.

Johnson skipped bail and left the country, joining Lucille in [[Montreal]] on June 25, before fleeing to France. To flee to Canada, Johnson posed as a member of a black baseball team. They lived in exile in Europe, South America, and Mexico for the next seven years. Johnson returned to the U.S. on July 20, 1920. He surrendered to federal agents at the Mexican border and was sent to the [[United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth]], to serve his sentence in September 1920.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://dbs.ohiohistory.org/africanam/page1.cfm?ItemID=9839 |title=Cleveland Advocate 2 October 1920 |publisher=Dbs.ohiohistory.org |access-date=September 30, 2014 |archive-date=September 28, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928084441/http://dbs.ohiohistory.org/africanam/page1.cfm?ItemID=9839 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He was released on July 9, 1921.<ref name=Burns/>

==== Presidential pardon ====
[[File:2018-05-24 Trump (posthumous) Pardon jack johnson 2018 05 25 0.pdf|thumb|May 2018 pardon granted by Donald Trump]]

President [[Donald Trump]] granted Johnson a posthumous [[presidential pardon]] after recurring proposals to grant one had not been acted on by previous administrations. In April 2018, Trump announced that he was considering granting a full pardon to Johnson on the advice of actor [[Sylvester Stallone]].<ref name=Politico20180421>{{cite web |last1=Griffiths |first1=Brent D. |title=Trump says he's 'considering' a pardon for boxer Jack Johnson |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2018/04/21/trump-pardon-jack-johnson-boxer-544930 |publisher=Politico |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180422031538/https://www.politico.com/story/2018/04/21/trump-pardon-jack-johnson-boxer-544930 |archive-date=April 22, 2018 |date=April 21, 2018 | url-status=live }}</ref> Trump pardoned Johnson on May 24, 2018, 105 years after his conviction, during a ceremony which included special guests Sylvester Stallone (actor), [[Deontay Wilder]] (then current WBC Champion), [[Lennox Lewis]] (WBC Former Champion), [[Mauricio Sulaiman]] (WBC President), Linda Bell Haywood (Johnson's great-great niece), and Hector Sulaiman (President of the Board of Advisors of Scholas Occurrentes).<ref name=":0">{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/24/sports/jack-johnson-pardon-trump.html |title=Trump Pardons Jack Johnson, Heavyweight Boxing Champion |last1=Eligon|first1=John|last2=Shear|first2=Michael D.|date=May 24, 2018 |website=The New York Times|access-date=May 26, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/24/sports/jack-johnson-racism.html|title=Missed in Coverage of Jack Johnson, the Racism Around Him |last1=Eligon |first1=John|last2=Thorpe|first2=Brandon K.|date=May 24, 2018|website=The New York Times|access-date=May 26, 2018}}</ref>

A bill which requested that President [[George W. Bush]] pardon Johnson passed the House in 2008,<ref>{{cite news |title=House seeks presidential pardon for boxing champ |work=[[The Argus-Press]] |agency=Associated Press |date=September 27, 2008 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=xYkxAAAAIBAJ&pg=6150,1822850 |access-date=August 12, 2016}}</ref> but failed to pass in the Senate.<ref>{{cite news |title=Senate urges Obama to pardon former champ |work=[[Lodi News-Sentinel]] |agency=[[Associated Press]] |date=June 25, 2009 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ssI0AAAAIBAJ&pg=4335,4609887 |access-date=August 12, 2016}}</ref> In April 2009, Senator [[John McCain]], along with Representative [[Peter T. King|Peter King]], film maker [[Ken Burns]], and Johnson's great-niece, Linda Haywood, requested a presidential pardon for Johnson from President [[Barack Obama]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbssports.com/boxing/story/11574725/|title=Columns|work=CBSSports.com|access-date=November 27, 2014}}</ref> In July of that year, Congress passed a resolution calling on President Obama to issue a pardon.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thesweetscience.com/boxing-article/7058/congress-passes-jack-johnson-resolution/|title=Congress Passes Jack Johnson Resolution|work=The Sweet Science|access-date=September 30, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120312155742/http://www.thesweetscience.com/boxing-article/7058/congress-passes-jack-johnson-resolution/|archive-date=March 12, 2012|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

In 2016, another petition for Johnson's pardon was issued by McCain, King, Senator [[Harry Reid]], and Congressman [[Gregory Meeks]] to President Obama, marking the 70th anniversary since the boxer's death.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/01/politics/john-mccain-harry-reid-jack-johnson/index.html|title=John McCain, Harry Reid ask Obama to pardon boxer Jack Johnson|work=CNN|access-date=July 1, 2016}}</ref> This time, the petitioners cited a provision of the [[Every Student Succeeds Act]], signed by the president in December 2015, in which Congress expressed that this boxing great should receive a posthumous pardon, and a vote by the [[United States Commission on Civil Rights]] passed unanimously a week earlier in June 2016 to "right this century-old wrong."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/ab272bb9-6132-49cc-9016-6cacf7c8492c/letter-to-potus-re-jack-johnson-pardon-6-30-16.pdf|title=Letter to POTUS Re Jack Johnson Pardon|work=McCain Letter PDF|access-date=July 1, 2016}}</ref>

[[Mike Tyson]], [[Harry Reid]], and John McCain lent their support to the campaign, starting a [[Change.org]] petition asking President Obama to posthumously pardon the world's first African American heavyweight boxing champion for his racially motivated 1913 felony conviction.<ref name="IBT">{{cite news |url=http://www.salon.com/2013/04/06/new_push_to_pardon_boxing_legend_jack_johnson_partner/ |title=New push to pardon boxing legend Jack Johnson |author=Eric Brown |date=April 7, 2013 |work=Salon.com |access-date=August 29, 2014}}</ref>

===Monkey wrench===
A persistent [[hoax]] on [[social media]] claims that Johnson invented the [[monkey wrench]] and it was named a ''monkey'' wrench as a racial slur. Johnson did receive a patent for improvements which he made to the monkey wrench,<ref>{{Cite patent|number=US1413121A|title=Wrench|gdate=1922-04-18|invent1=Arthur|inventor1-first=Johnson John|url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US1413121/en?oq=#1,413,121}}</ref> but the name "monkey wrench" and the first patent for it predate his birth by over 35 years.<ref>{{cite web |title=Did Jack Johnson Invent the Monkey Wrench? |url=https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/jack-johnsons-monkey-wrench/ |website=Snopes.com|date=December 14, 2015 }}</ref>