Albert C. Johnston (born 1900/1901 – June 23, 1988) was a doctor described as part-black and of mixed parentage who, along with his family, passed as white in Gorham and then

Keene, New Hampshire Keene is a city in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 23,047 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 23,409 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. It is the county seat and the only city in ...

William Lindsay White William Lindsay White (June 17, 1900 – July 26, 1973) was an American journalist, foreign correspondent, and writer. He succeeded his father, William Allen White, as editor and publisher of the ''Emporia Gazette'' in 1944. Among White's most not ...

wrote a ''

Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wi ...

'' article about the family and a short book was published from it in 1948 titled, ''Lost Boundaries''. A year later in 1949, a film was adapted from the book about the family was released, though changing the names of all involved and key elements were altered and made up. In 1989 a follow-up film, ''Lost Boundaries Reunion'' was made with interviews of family members. Johnston was from Chicago and studied at

Rust College Rust College is a private historically black college in Holly Springs, Mississippi. Founded in 1866, it is the second-oldest private college in the state. Affiliated with the United Methodist Church, it is one of ten historically black colleges ...

. He interned at Maine General Hospital. Johnston had trouble finding work but was eventually able to secure employment as a doctor by passing as white. He was a country doctor and

radiologist Radiology ( ) is the medical specialty that uses medical imaging to diagnose diseases and guide treatment within the bodies of humans and other animals. It began with radiography (which is why its name has a root referring to radiation), but tod ...

in Gorham and

. He entered the Navy as a commissioned officer but the offer was rescinded; he eventually learned that the decision was due to the discovery of his ethnic background. His son, Albert C. Johnston Jr., one of four children, composed music including songs used in the film about the family. After working in Keene until the mid-1960s, Johnston Sr moved to the island of Kauai and worked as a radiologist at Wilcox Memorial Hospital; he died at the age of 87 at Castle Medical Center after being treated for chest congestion. He was buried in Keene. Except for supporting cast members, white actors were used for the film. The film was banned in Atlanta and Memphis. A high school student wrote about Johnston and his home in 2001. In 2013, Stanford University professor

Allyson Hobbs Allyson Hobbs is an American historian, author, and associate professor at Stanford University. Hobbs is known for her scholarly work on African American history, especially her research on racial passing. Hobbs is also a prominent public intell ...

wrote about the Johnstons and their passing in her book ''A Chosen Exile: A History of Racial Passing ''.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, Albert C. 1900s births Year of birth uncertain 1988 deaths American radiologists 20th-century American physicians 20th-century African-American physicians African Americans in New Hampshire Physicians from Chicago Rust College alumni