Keep on down Ashley to Spring, and you would come to the home of Dr. William Johnson, much loved in the community. He didn't just heal the sick, he uplifted your spirit whenever you saw him. Next to Uncle J.B., he was my girlhood hero. I just loved whenever I saw him.

Dr. Johnson had style. Out onto Ashley Avenue would come his white horse, and behind that, the most sumptuous maroon surrey you ever saw, gold fringe and gold trim on the wheels...and then he would drive all over Charleston, waving and smiling at everybody. If you felt in the dumps and saw Dr. Johnson taking the air, his gaiety made your forget all about it. "A character," some people might say, but he worked hard and sincerely in the community. And let me tell you this: in later years, he brought Dr. Hylda Prioleau and Dr. Jackson to Charleston, an MD and a pharmacist, two women. At a time when we only had so many Negro nurses in Charleston, he brought us Negro women doctors.