Papers include reminiscences by Johnson's grandmother, Elvira Lightner Allen, of slavery and the abolition movement. One relates the experience of her father, Daniel Lightner, who witnessed the cruelty of slavery as a boy; another describes memories of her parent's Underground Railway station in Indiana. In addition, there is a description of Dr. John H. Kelloggs's Battle Creek Sanitarium written by a patient to Johnson's husband in 1900. Correspondence to Sophia Smith Collection Director Margaret Grierson from Dr. Bertha Johnson (circa 1949-57) include her own reminiscences of her professional life and acquaintances including Emma Goldman and Helen Tufts Bailie.