Our Founder and Senior Griot

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Mama Vi Johnson is a beloved matriarch of the leather community and the visionary founder of the Carter Johnson Leather Library & Collection. Known affectionately as Mama Vi, she has spent decades preserving the stories, artifacts, and cultural legacy of leatherfolk so that future generations would understand the depth, history, and resilience of the community.

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Mama Vi dedicated herself to safeguarding books, photographs, personal papers, and rare materials documenting leather history. What began as a deeply personal effort to preserve community heritage grew into one of the most respected leather archives in the world. Through her determination, the Carter Johnson Leather Library & Collection became a living historical resource for scholars, activists, artists, and community members seeking to understand leather culture.

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Mama Vi is widely admired not only for her archival work but also for her role as a mentor and community elder. Her warmth, generosity, and fierce commitment to preserving leather history have inspired countless volunteers, historians, and leatherfolk to contribute their own stories and materials to the collection.

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Today, her legacy lives on through the growing archives she founded—ensuring that the voices, struggles, creativity, and triumphs of the leather community will never be forgotten.

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