Glynis Johns '15C, '17G

Glynis Johns ‘15C, ‘17G has turned her master’s thesis research into an inspiring career.

 Ms. Johns has secured a grant from the Willary Foundation—a family foundation dedicated to developing ideas and projects that are interesting, creative and imaginative and which benefit communities in Northeastern Pennsylvania—to create a scholarly archive of the African-American community in Scranton, PA—her hometown.

“Black people have been in Scranton for a long time, but haven’t been included in the cultural narrative,” said Ms. Johns. “This area was part of the Underground Railroad and deserves a national spotlight.”

In collaboration with the Albright Memorial Library and the Lackawanna Historical Society in Scranton, Ms. Johns has compiled resources about the history of “Black Scranton.” She aims to secure a space in Scranton to make her research, which she began as a thesis project entitled “But You’re Black: The Overlooked Community of Scranton, Pennsylvania” for her M.A. at St. John’s, available to the community.

“People are familiar with the history of Scranton as a predominantly white coal mining town, but no one considers the contributions of black resident,” she said.

As part of the Black Scranton Project, Ms. Johns recently curated an event, “Shout: Black Art Exhibition,” a cultural empowerment series celebrating the contributions of People of Color in the arts, education, music, history, and community. Ms. Johns has also been featured as the “Northeast Woman” in Scranton newspaper, The Times-Tribune.  

While continuing the Black Scranton project, Ms. Johns teaches undergraduate sociology courses at St. John’s, including Introduction to Sociology, Sociology of the Black Experience, and Race and Ethnicity. She is currently applying to doctoral programs in sociology and history.

Though she intends to devote her career to the recovery of African-American archives in Scranton, Ms. Johns thought when she began her undergraduate degree at St. John’s that she would never return to her home town. “I thought I wanted to be in New York and never come back to Scranton,” she said. “I just fell in love with St. John’s.”

Her plans for what to study also changed while pursuing her bachelor’s degree. Once intent on pursuing a career in medicine, Ms. Johns declared a Sociology major after meeting faculty in the department. One faculty member in particular, the late Roderick D. Bush, Ph.D., especially encouraged Ms. Johns interest in the subject. “He was the first person to tell me I was smart enough to be in college and to excel,” she said. “The department and faculty really do care about you and your goals.”

Not only did Ms. Johns declare a major in Sociology, she became president of Alpha Kappa Delta, the Sociology honor society at St. John’s, and continued to earn her M.A. in the subject. Under the mentorship of Associate Professor Natalie P. Byfield, Ph.D., Ms. Johns began investigating the African-American heritage of Scranton for her thesis project, which later evolved into the Black Scranton project. She also found a role model in Dr. Byfield. “She was a motivating force for me,” said Ms. Johns. “Dr. Byfield really loves her work and enjoys when her students want to investigate a topic more closely. The intention and care with which she approaches everything has been an inspiration to me. Dr. Byfield is a great scholar doing groundbreaking research in topics of race, and is a valuable resource to students at St. John’s.”

“Glynis immediately stood out to me as a student, not just for her analytical skills, which are so well developed, but for the care and passion she showed in class,” said Dr. Byfield. “As her thesis advisor, I was amazed at the research she brought to our weekly meetings. She has combined scholarship and activism to generate fresh and new insights about a topic she is investigating through her own experience.”