A consortium led by the Getty Foundation has acquired the iconic Ebony and Jet magazine archives. The group includes the Ford Foundation, the Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Julie Bosman of The New York Times reported via Twitter that the group has pledged to donate the archive to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture and the Getty Research Institute so that its contents can become available to the public, researchers, and scholars. The acquisition is pending court approval and the closing of the sale.

In a press release announcing the sale, Ford Foundation president Darren Walker said, “We’re thrilled with the outcome. This archive is a national treasure and one of tremendous importance to the telling of black history in America. We felt it was imperative to preserve these images, to give them the exposure they deserve and make them readily available to the public.”

In 2018, Chicago-based Rebuild Foundation and the Terra Foundation for American Art presented A Johnson Publishing Story, an exhibition organized by Theaster Gates that used the Johnson archives to explore the role that the Johnson Publishing Company played in "defining and disseminating a black aesthetic and culture to national and international audiences in the mid-20th century."

The magazine's architectural influence includes the design of its groovy 1970s-era offices, which were located in the Johnson Publishing Company headquarters building, a 14-story tower designed in 1971 by John Warren Moutoussamy, an architect who, according to Preservation Chicago, would go on to become the first African American partner in a large architectural firm while working at Dubin, Dubin, Black & Moutoussamy in Chicago. The office's interiors were designed by renowned interior designer Arthur Elrod. 

The sale of the archives comes as the publishing company navigates bankruptcy proceedings. In 2018, the seminal Arthur Elrod-designed Ebony test kitchen located in the Johnson Publishing Company headquarters was documented and disassembled by preservation group Landmarks Illinois. (Elrod also designed an apartment for Johnson Publishing Company chief John Johnson) 

Earlier this year, the Museum of Food and Drink in New York City announced that the kitchen would be showcased in a forthcoming exhibition, African/American: Making the Nation’s Table. 

Photographs of the Johnson Publishing Company headquarters as well as of the homes of John and Eunice Johnson are featured in Adele Cygelman’s recent book Arthur Elrod: Desert Modern Design.