Born in 1896 in Monterey, Virginia, Joyner was the daughter of George Emmanuel Stewart, a teacher and Annie Stewart (née Daugherty). Joyner was the granddaughter of a slave and a white slave-owner. Joyner's family relocated to Dayton, Ohio in 1904 and her parents divorced three years later.
Joyner, born in 1896 in Monterey, Virginia, was the daughter of George Emmanuel Stewart, a teacher, and Annie Stewart (née Daugherty). She was the granddaughter of a slave and a white slave-owner. Joyner's family moved to Dayton, Ohio in 1904, and her parents divorced three years later.