About Vernon Johns
Dr. Vernon Johns was an American minister based in the South and a pioneer in the civil rights movement. He is best known as the pastor (1947–52) of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. He was succeeded there by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In 1937 Johns was called again as a pastor of First Baptist Church in Charleston, West Virginia. In 1926, he was the first African American to have his work published in Best Sermons of the Year. When Johns's maternal grandmother died young, her daughter Sallie Price (who later became Johns's mother) was raised by Price's white wife.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.