Shelton Johnson
Member Emeritus
About Shelton
Shelton Johnson is renowned for his National Park Service interpretive work and living history program telling the near-forgotten story of the Buffalo Soldiers—African-American cavalrymen who played a pivotal role in protecting Yosemite and Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park at the turn of the century. Shelton featured prominently in the 2009 Ken Burns PBS documentary, “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea.” He has been widely recognized for his poetry, literature, interpretation, and his role in helping to connect people of color to national parks, and he was recently the recipient of the Freeman Tilden award—the highest award offered by the National Park Service in Interpretation. Shelton is the author of “Gloryland,” historical fiction that traces the path of a Buffalo Soldier. Shelton, a native of Detroit, Michigan, has worked as a U.S. Park Ranger since 1987, and attended Graduate School at the University of Michigan, majoring in Poetry. He is passionate about connecting underrepresented and non-traditional visitors to Yosemite National Park and to the outdoors in general.