Kingsport Spirit

On the eve of Black History Month, here’s a glimpse inside the mind of J. Fred Johnson, the father of Kingsport who coined the term “Kingsport Spirit”. This quote is from his memorial service in 1944—twenty years before the Civil Rights Act was passed. He was an early champion of equity and inclusion in gender, race, and religion. He considered all of us as a “first cousin…on the record book up There”. That doesn’t mean that things were idyllic in Kingsport, but at least he was trying to navigate the societal complexities and plant seeds for a better tomorrow.