Robert S. Johnston Papers

Robert Samuel "Bob" Johnston was born ca. 1921 to Pinkney L. Johnson (1884-1957), an employee of the Southern Baptist Church, and his wife Hilda, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The second of four sons, Johnston soon moved with his family to Jacksonville, Florida, where he lived until at least 1930. In Jacksonville, Johnston's father was the editor-manager of the Florida Baptist Witness, the newspaper for the Southern Baptist Convention in Florida.

Johnston's family moved to Atlanta, Georgia, at some time between 1930 and 1935. In 1937, Robert Johnston enrolled at the Georgia School (now Institute) of Technology where he studied Mechanical Engineering and was a member of the swim team. He graduated from Georgia Tech in 1942. In 1944, Johnston enlisted in the United States Army at Fort McPherson in Atlanta.

Not much is known about his life after World War II, but Johnston later married Doris Ethel Kelly, a saleswoman for S.H. Kress & Co., a department store in Atlanta. They had one son, Bruce Samuel Johnston, who attended Georgia Tech from 1969 to 1972, and was a member of the Chi Psi Fraternity. In 1992, Bob Johnston attended the 50th Reunion of his Georgia Tech graduation class, along with his wife Doris. At that time, he was living in what is now Sandy Springs, Georgia.