Johnston, Eric A.
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Johnston, Eric A.
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Eric A. Johnston served as president of the Motion Picture Association of America from 1947 to 1963, endorsing the practice of portraying amiable race relations on screen while spreading American films to global audiences.
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Eric A. Johnston was born near the end of nineteenth century in Washington DC and moved with his family to Spokane, Washington in 1905. Just before completing his undergraduate studies at the University of Washington, the United States entered World War I, and Johnston enlisted in the Marine Corps. After his service, he returned to Spokane and sold vacuum cleaners for a time before turning his job into his own business. Known for his excellent speaking abilities, he became the president of the Spokane Chamber of Commerce in 1931. He soon took his talents to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, gaining the attention of President Franklin D Roosevelt, who commissioned him as emissary to Russia in 1944. After the conclusion of World War II and his time leading the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, he accepted the invitation to serve as president of the Motion Picture Association of America. In this role, he labored to spread American films abroad, aiming to share ideas and ideals with the rest of the world. In what might be construed as American propaganda, Johnston supported studio executives who aimed at whitewashing Jim Crow segregation in order to portray mutually beneficial race relations to the world. He likewise became embroiled in political suspicions of communist leanings in Hollywood, ultimately helping the House Committee on Un-American Activities by providing a blacklist of ten directors holding communist sympathies. Late in his career, he established the Johnston Foundation to support independent education in Spokane, which financed the construction of the science building at Whitworth College that would bear his name.
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December 21, 1895
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August 22, 1963
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Spokane Chamber of Commerce
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Motion Picture Association of America
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https://www.historylink.org/File/7339
https://www.spyculture.com/clandestime-098-eric-johnston1/
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