Thomas H. Johnson was chairman of the English department of the Lawrenceville School, Lawrenceville, New Jersey.
Johnson was co-editor of the definitive Literary History of the United States (1948, 3 vols.) of which he compiled the entire third volume. He also published the first definitive edition of the writings of Emily Dickinson (1830–1886) in six volumes. In 1955 he published Emily Dickinson: An Interpretative Biography. Prior to Dr. Johnson’s work, no accurate or complete editions of the writing of this major American poet were in existence.
In addition, Johnson was the author of The Oxford Companion to American History.