Patricia Miller Givens Johnson was born in Newport, Virginia, on March 9, 1932. She graduated from Christiansburg High School in 1949, later obtaining her bachelor's degree from the University of Texas at Austin (1956) and master's from the College of William and Mary (1963).
Patricia Johnson taught history and social studies in various schools as the family moved frequently--to Texas, Japan, England, Atlanta and Washington, D.C. Around 1980, the Johnsons returned to the New River Valley area. Like her mother, Johnson maintained a lifetime interest in the history of Southwest Virginia; she eventually published 15 books and numerous articles related to the subject and became one of the foremost authorities on local history.
Johnson's papers (held in the Virginia Tech Special
Collections) of Patricia Givens Johnson, New River Valley local historian, consist primarily of materials which arose from her research
for--and
publication of--books on local pioneers Andrew Lewis, Jacob Miller, James Patton, William Preston, and the early settlement
of the New River Valley.
o The New River Early Settlement
o The United States Army Invades the New River Valley, May 1864
o Techmen of the twenties
o Confederate Woman of New River Border Country
Kentland at Whitethorne: Virginia Tech's Agricultural Farm and Families That Owned It,
Harmans, Buchanans, Triggs, Cloyds, Kents, Cowans, Bells
o The Smithfield Militia, 1776-1781
o Settlers from Delaware River Come to Roanoke and New River
o General Andrew Lewis of Roanoke and Greenbrier
o Mountain Lake Resort Book 1 1751-1900
o James Patton and the Appalachian Colonists
o William Preston and the Alleghany Patriots