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James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938)
writer, poet, statesman
James Weldon Johnson was a writer, poet and distinguished statesman, born in Jacksonville, Florida, where he and his brother, J. Rosamond Johnson, grew up. Their father was head waiter at a resort hotel there and their mother, who had been born in the Bahamas and educated in New York City, was the first black woman to teach in a public school in Florida. Their parents were both talented musically and the family often made music together. James attended Atlanta University and, on graduation, became principal of Stanton Grammar School in Jacksonville. Over the years, he became a figure in the struggle of African Americans for equal rights. He was the executive director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People from 1920 through 1931.
In 1900 he and his brother J. Rosamond Johnson wrote a song
in celebration to be sung by school children. That song, "Lift Every Voice
and Sing," much to their surprise, became the "Negro National Anthem"
and is still being sung throughout the country. Johnson contributed articles
regularly to i>The Crisis. In 1927, he published the Book of American
Negro Poetry. Dr. James Weldon Johnson was appointed consul to Venezuela.
His autobiography is called Along This Way: The Autobiography of James
Weldon Johnson, published in 1933. Black Manhattan, The Autobiography
of an Ex-Colored Man, and God's Trombones are three of his
most famous works.