Doris Sands Johnson

Dame
Doris Sands Johnson
Johnson in 1960
Bahamian Senator
In office
1967 – 21 June 1983
MonarchElizabeth II
Prime MinisterLynden Pindling
President of the Senate of the Bahamas
In office
1973–1982
Prime MinisterLynden Pindling
Preceded byGerald Cash
Succeeded byEdwin Coleby
Minister of Transport
In office
1968–1973
Personal details
Born
Doris Louise Sands

(1921-06-19)19 June 1921
St. Agnes, New Providence, Bahamas
Died21 June 1983(1983-06-21) (aged 62)
Political partyPLP
Spouse
Ratal Allen Johnson
(m. 1943)
Alma mater
OccupationTeacher, suffragist, author
Known forFirst woman appointed to, and to serve as president of, the Bahamian Senate

Dame Doris Sands Johnson DBE (19 June 1921 – 21 June 1983) was a Bahamian teacher, suffragette, and politician. She was the first Bahamian woman to contest an election in the Bahamas, the first female Senate appointee, and the first woman granted a leadership role in the Senate. Once in the legislature, she was the first woman to be made a government minister and then was elected as the first woman President of the Senate. She was the first woman to serve as Acting Governor General of the Bahamas, and was honored as Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II.

Born on New Providence Island, she completed her secondary education and became a teacher. After teaching for 17 years, Johnson returned to school to earn a master's and doctorate degree in educational administration. During this period, she traveled back and forth between school and her Bahamian home organizing labor and suffrage efforts. Upon graduation, Johnson was unable to find work because of her activism. She made a compelling speech to the Bahamian legislature in 1959, pleading for women's suffrage and subsequently made a similar plea to the Colonial Office in London. Once the right to vote had been secured, Johnson immediately entered politics in 1961, running in the first election in which women were allowed to participate. Though she lost her bid, she worked with the Progressive Liberal Party to gain Bahamian independence. When the country gained its freedom from colonial rule, Johnson was appointed to the Senate and served the government until her death, a decade later.