Football

63150 — School notebook front cover lacking 8vo. utilizing 22pp. of the lined paper to record through newspaper stories and candid and school photos the winning season for the Subiaco Academy football team. Laid down in the notebook are numerous news articles as well as 14 photos of the team most 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 in. or 3 1/2 x 5 1/4 in. and most with caption titles in casual dress and uniform or at practice plus a couple of slightly larger posed photos of the team and coaches. Johnson also played on the basketball and baseball teams for the school and a photo of each team is present in the notebook. There are 9 additional photos unmounted 4 small ones 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 in. showing football practice the other five showing groups of students posing as members of the football team with musical instruments as members of the band and as members of the student body with the faculty in front of one of the school buildings. Two of these photos are stamped on the back by the Abbey Photo Shop in Subiaco. Accompanied by two letters of polite rejection for football scholarships one from Tulane in February and one from Loyola of the South in April 1938. The Tulane letter notes his size and says most of their quarterbacks are much larger than he is. Also present is a letter in pencil undated to "Dear Mother" and signed "Son" presumably written by Johnson to his mother the summer after he graduated from the academy. He was working in nearby Hazen first in a drug store then in the hay fields earning $1.50 a day. <br/>Sonny Johnson a young man from Little Rock attended Subiaco Academy a private Catholic high school and played on the football team alternating between full and half back positions as well as occasionally quarterbacking. As a member of Coach Reynold Maus' team he earned a letter in the 1936-37 season. The news articles are full of his daring feats on the field: "Maus' most reliable back is "Sonny" Johnson a Little Rock boy who plays fullback. Johnson is a triple-threat man and as signal-caller has guided the Trojans to six victories against one defeat. Although he weighs only 139 Johnson has played every quarter but one this fall." Sonny Johnson born in Cotton Plant Arkansas in 1920 was the son of Parham and Evelyn Johnson. His parents divorced when he was young. Sonny attended Little Rock High School Columbia Military Academy and Subiaco Academy graduating in May 1938. Unsuccessful at his attempts for college scholarships he followed his father into the military and enlisted in the Navy in April 1939. He trained as an Aviation Radio Operator and was assigned to the USS Enterprise and escort duty on the USS Hornet. On May 13 1942 his bomber crew took off on a mission from which it did not return. He was reported missing presumed dead at the age of 22.<br/>There are two ink notes written later at the bottom of the college rejection letters. Both lament his lost opportunities for higher education: "It kept him from entering the U.S. Service as an Ensign. Wish I had really known how very much he wanted to go to college." <br/><br/> unknown books