Graduated from Yale, Class of 1900. Johnson was a member of the Yale track and field team, winning numerous events. He could have possibly medaled in the pole-vault in the Olympics of 1900, if it were not for scheduling confusions that led himself and fellow competitors to think that the medal event would be held on a different day (the medal ended up being controversially awarded to Irving Baxter, whom Johnson had already outjumped in competition). Johnson rec'd his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1903 and was admitted to the bar. He eventually became a law officer with the Federal Indian Bureau and led inspections of reservations in the West. Later, he was named Secretary of the Recreation Committee of New York City. In 1913, he became associated with the American Social Hygiene Association. He was instrumental in leading efforts to eradicate prostitution in American cities in the West, including leading the charge to close the infamous "Barbary Coast" of San Francisco in 1917. During WWI he played a role in combatting venereal disease in American soldiers, and after the Armistice he traveled to France as part of an effort to enforce the American policy of prohibition of patronage of houses of prostitution among American soldiers. From 1924-7 he directed investigations for the League of Nations on the international so-called "white slave" traffic (a.k.a. sex slavery). In 1930 he was named by the League as chairman of a commission that would extend this investigation to over 20 nations ranging from the Middle East to the Far East. Later he led a tour of China and other Asian nations as part of an international effort to eradicate sex slavery and improve conditions of those involved with the sex trade.∼He was the son of Dr. Joseph T. Johnson and Maude Bascom. He was married to Sophie F. Adams. Cremated, location of ashes unknown.