Johnnie Carr

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Johnnie Rebecca Daniels Carr (January 26, 1911 - February 22, 2008) was a leader in the Civil Rights movement in the United States from 1955 until her death.

In 1967, Carr became President of the Montgomery Improvement Association, succeeding the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Carr held this office until she died.

Carr was a childhood friend of Rosa Parks and is considered, along with Parks, to be an important face in the Civil Rights movement in Montgomery, Alabama. According to Morris Dees, one of three founders of Montgomery's Southern Poverty Law Center, "Johnnie Carr is one of the three major icons of the Civil Rights Movement: Dr. King, Rosa Parks and Johnnie Carr. I think ultimately, when the final history books are written, she'll be one of the few people remembered for that terrific movement."

Civil Rights pioneer and U.S. Representative John Lewis, D-Ga., said, "Mrs. Carr must be looked on as one of the founders of a new America because she was there with Rosa Parks, E.D. Nixon, Martin Luther King Jr. and so many others."^[1]

Carr died of a massive stroke at the age of 97.^[1]