Samuel Harrison Johnson was born in 1916 and died in 1999. He was the son of Henry and Minerva Johnson and was born in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Johnson earned several degrees from Indiana University in Bloomington. Mr. Johnson was a Social Worker/Guidance Counselor when he came to Atlanta, Georgia, as the Southeastern Regional Director of the Educational Counseling Office, of the Board of National Missions of the United Presbyterian Church, USA. When that agency closed, he became the Southeastern Regional Director of the National Scholarship Service and Fund for Negro Students (NSSFNS), headquartered in New York City, New York. Johnson was also developed the Summer Study-Skills Program (SSSP), which ran from 1961-1968.

Johnson was also a founder of the Association of Non-White Concerns (ANWC), a unit of the American Personnel and Guidance Association. The organization is now called the Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development.