V. M. Johnson Explained

V. M. Johnson, also known as Viola Johnson, born in 1950, is a leatherwoman, leather activist and author.^{[1] [2] [3] [4]}

Life

Johnson claims that when she was seventeen years old a vampire gave her some of his own blood to drink and thus she became a vampire.^[3]

In the early 1970s, she joined the BDSM and leather scenes.^[1] In 1988, she became an honorary member of Tulsa Uniform Leather Seekers Association (T.U.L.S.A).^[5] In 2005, she started The Carter/Johnson Library & Collection, a "collection of thousands of books, magazines, posters, art, club and event pins, newspapers, event programs and ephemera showing leather, fetish, S/M erotic history".^[6]

She was a judge for many leather-related contests, including Ms. World Leather.^{[1] [7]}

She is on the board of governors for the Leather Hall of Fame.^[8]

She was on the board of directors of the Leather Archives & Museum and is a member of the Lesbian Sex Mafia. She is married to Jill Carter.^[4]

Notable awards

• 1995: National Leather Association's Jan Lyon Award for Regional or Local Work^[9]
• 1995: National Leather Association Lifetime Achievement Award^[10]
• 1995: Pantheon of Leather Lifetime Achievement Award^[11] (Johnson was the first person to receive the National Leather Association Lifetime Achievement Award and the Pantheon of Leather Lifetime Achievement Award in the same year.)^[12]
• 1998: Pantheon of Leather Couple of the Year award (shared with Jill Carter and Queen Cougar)^[13]
• 2000: Pantheon of Leather Woman of the Year^[14]
• 2005: SouthEast LeatherFest Jack Stice Memorial Community Service Award^[15]
• 2005: Master/slave Conference slave Heart Award^[16]
• 2005: Pantheon of Leather Forebear Award (tied for the win with David S. Kloss)^[13]
• 2007: Black Beat Lifetime Achievement Award (This was the first Lifetime Achievement Award given by Black Beat.)^[12]
• 2012: Master/slave Conference Guy Baldwin Master/slave Heritage Award^[16]
• 2012: National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Leather Leadership Award^[17] (Johnson was the first woman to be given this award.)^[4]
• 2018: The Carter/Johnson Library & Collection received the Nonprofit Organization of the Year award as part of the Pantheon of Leather Awards.^[13]
• Unknown date: Induction into the Society of Janus Hall of Fame^[18]
• 2021: Leather Archives & Museum’s Chuck Renslow & Tony DeBlase Founders’ Award^[19]

Works

Books

• V. M. Johnson, Dhampir: Child of the Blood. Mystic Rose Books, 1995.
• Laura Antoniou (ed.),Some Women. Masquerade Books, Inc, 1995 (contributed "Journal entries")^[20]
• V. M. Johnson, To Love, to Obey, to Serve: Diary of an Old Guard Slave Mystic Rose Books, 1999.

Contributing author, notable periodicals

• Black Leather in Color
• Black Mistress Review

External links

• The Carter/Johnson Library and Collection

Notes and References

1. Web site: Oral History Exhibit. Leather Archives & Museum. 24 April 2020. 26 June 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200626230956/https://leatherarchives.org/oral-history-exhibit. dead.
   - Book: Aspasia Stephanou. Reading Vampire Gothic Through Blood: Bloodlines. 17 July 2014. Springer. 978-1-137-34923-1. 194–. Google Books.
2. Book: V. M. Johnson. Dhampir: Child of the Blood. Mystic Rose Books. 1995. 978-0-9645960-1-6.
3. Book: Jay Stevenson PhD. The Complete Idi Guide to Vampires: Fascinating Vampire Lore from Eastern Europe, Greece, Italy, and the Middle East. 21 January 2009. DK Publishing. 978-1-101-02001-2. 168–.
4. Web site: Vi Johnson Receives NGLTF Leather Leadership Award. Leatherati . 14 December 2011 . 24 April 2020.
5. Web site: Membership. T.U.L.S.A..
6. Web site: Carter/Johnson Leather Library . Leather Library . 18 May 2014.
7. Book: Andy Campbell. Bound together: Leather, sex, archives, and contemporary art. 2020. Manchester University Press. 978-1-5261-4283-2. 238–. Google Books.
8. Web site: Board Of Governors. https://web.archive.org/web/20161207224224/https://leatherhalloffame.com/index.php/board-of-governors.html. dead. December 7, 2016. Leather Hall of Fame.
9. Web site: List of winners . NLA International . 14 March 2019 . 8 May 2020 . 3 January 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200103035259/https://www.nla-international.com/list-of-winners-3.html . dead .
10. Web site: All NLA-I Awards . NLA International . 5 November 2019 . 22 March 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120206062431/http://www.nla-i.com/html/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=27&Itemid=47 . 6 February 2012.
11. Book: Ariane Cruz. The Color of Kink: Black Women, BDSM, and Pornography. 2016. NYU Press. 978-1-4798-6532-1. 236–. Google Books.
12. Web site: Mama Vi Johnson, Carter Johnson Leather Library. Master/slave Conference. 25 April 2020.
13. Web site: Pantheon of Leather Awards All Time Recipients. The Leather Journal. 2020-04-22. 2020-12-28. https://web.archive.org/web/20201228055005/https://www.theleatherjournal.com/pantheon-awards/recipients. dead.
14. Web site: 2000 . The Leather Journal . 22 April 2020.
15. Web site: Jack Stice Memorial Community Service Award. SouthEast LeatherFest. 25 April 2020.
16. Web site: Master/slave Conference Awards . Master/slave Conference . Archive.is . 11 August 2013 . 22 April 2020 . https://archive.today/20130811102637/http://www.masterslaveconference.org/history-awards.html . bot: unknown .
17. Web site: Viola Johnson Accepts NGLTF Leather Leadership Award . The Leather Journal . 2020-04-22.
18. Web site: Society of Janus . Erobay . 29 July 2019 . 21 April 2020.
19. Web site: 30 30 Anniversary Campaign – Leather Archives & Museum.
20. Book: Some Women. Laura Antoniou. 1995 . Masquerade Books, Inc . 34697142 . 25 April 2020.