From theroot.com:
Ebony’s Eunice Johnson Dies
Eunice Johnson, the woman who stood alongside John H. Johnson, has died. Mrs. Johnson, who was in her 90s, worked with her husband to build Negro Digest, Jet, and Ebony into the most influential black publications in the post-World War II period. She was instrumental in developing the Ebony Fashion Fair, which brought haute couture to black audiences, and the Fashion Fair Cosmetics line.
Mrs. Johnson produced and directed the Ebony Fashion Fair, which brought name designers as well as many emerging black designers to audiences in cities across the U.S. and Canada. The shows put on an estimated 4,000 performances since its launch in 1961, raising some $55 million for charities.
The shows ended last year because of the financial crisis. Mrs. Johnson was to be honored at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art later this month. According to the company’s web site, Mrs. Johnson was born in Selma, Alabama, the daughter of a doctor and an educator. Her maternal grandmother was founder president of Selma University. Her surviving daughter, Linda Johnson Rice is chairman and CEO of Johnson Publishing.