Johnston Family - Ourfolk

A member of an old Indianapolis family that has been around these
parts for a number of generations has been signally honored
by the French government.
Capt.Winant P. Johnston, brother of
Russell W. Johnston, was recently made a
chevalier of the Legion of Honor receiving his decoration
at the French Embassy in Washington, from M. Andre de Laboulaye,
the French ambassador.

The medal of the Legion of Honor is a five-rayed star of white
enamel edged with gold surmounted with a wreath of oak and laurel
and suspended from a red ribbon.
The French order of merit was founded by Napolean in 1802,
its medal conferred for meritorious conduct in military or civil life.

Capt. Johnston, a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania,
saw service ocerseas with the English, French and American armies
and was wounded in action.His interests extend in many directions.
Finishing a course in architecture at Pensylvannia, he became
interested in sculpture and painting and has had exhibitions
of his work.
He is also an author. You may recall his novel,
'Eyelids of the Morn.'
During the war he was interested in aerial photography.
At the time of the Paris colonial exposition he was
assistant United States commisioner there.

At present he has an attractive place in Georgetown which has
a fascinating atmosphere and is filed with olf French furniture.

Wrote 'Eyelids of the Morn' (name spelled Wijnant on title page).
Also wrote 'Young Innocents'

Washington Evening Star, March 17, 1929

Winant P. Johnston (ca 1890 - ca 1955) was born in Indianapolis. He attended the University of Pennsylvania. During
the first World War he was a pioneer in aerial reconnaissance, and wrote a textbook on aerial photography.

Between World Wars he moved to Washington, D. C., and had a house at 3417 N Street in Georgetown, which he
had converted from a fish store. In the late 1920s, under the Dutch version (Wijnant) of his first name, he published a
novel entitled Eyelids of the Morn. In 1939 he was working in a library in Brittany; he left France on the last available
ship at the outbreak of war.

During World War II Johnston was a Lieutenant Colonel, stationed in Washington and having to do with Lend-Lease
supply of munitions to South American allies.

This collection, filling two folders, contains a narrative written on the back of six photographs. It was sent to Julia G.
and Anna T. Sharpe of Indianapolis. The author was doing aerial photography with occupation troops near Coblenz on
the Rhine; internal evidence indicates that the narrative was written early in 1919 while the Versailles Settlement was
being written. Johnston refers to Germany as 'Bocheland,' describes the mooring and communication lines of an
observation blimp, and describes the fortifications of Ehrenbreitstein across the Rhine from Coblenz. A portrait of
Johnston is included.