by Cleo E. Brown 

James Weldon Johnson embodies the spirit of the term “Renaissance Man” because of the numbers of careers he successfully pursued throughout his sixty-seven years.  Born on June 17^th, 1871 in Jacksonville, Florida to parents of Nassau, Bahaman descent, Johnson was an Educator, A Writer of both prose and poetry, A  Songwriter, A Civil Right’s Activist, a Politician, a Diplomat, and an Attorney. 

The second child of three siblings, Johnson’s father, named James Johnson, had been a headwaiter at The St. James Hotel in Jacksonville, Florida while his mother, named Helen Louise Dillet was the first female African-American school teacher in Jacksonville. As a boy, Johnson showed early promise and was encouraged to pursue, by his parents, his interests in Literature and Music.  It is interesting to note that although James Weldon Johnson was born during Reconstruction in the South that by 1891 a policy of “separate but equal” and Jim Crow segregation had begun. 

This shaped and defined him as a man and as a professional, influencing Johnson to embark on a career as a Civil Right’s Activist particularly through his involvement with The National Association for The Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). It is also important to note that in addition to his work for The NAACP , Johnson was an active Republican Party Member having served, beginning in 1904, as both The Treasurer and a year later The President of The Colored Republican Club.  He strongly, therefore, identified with the self-help policies of Booker T. Washington.

      James Weldon Johnson was initially educated by his family, particularly his mother, eventually attending the Edwin M. Stanton School in Jacksonville, Florida where he would some day return as both a teacher and later as The Principal of the school.  When he was sixteen years old he enrolled in Atlanta University receiving his Bachelor’s Degree at the age of twenty-three in 1894.   In addition to achieving his Bachelor’s Degree, he also completed graduate level courses while attending The University of Atlanta.  As a student, Johnson spent his summers teaching the children of former slaves in rural Georgia.

      By 1895, James Weldon Johnson had founded a newspaper called The Daily American.  The Daily American, whose emphasis was on issues pertaining to The Black Community, lasted only one year.  Johnson, however, who did most of the work on the paper, despite the paper’s demise due to “Financial Hardships”, gained the notice of both Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Dubois.  Washington was the recognized leader of The Black masses in the South while Dubois led The Harlem Renaissance in The North and began The NAACP.  Their notice of Johnson’s work on The Daily News led to other opportunities for Johnson later in life. As Johnson worked as a teacher at The Stanton School in Jacksonville he put himself through Law School becoming the first African-American to pass The Bar in the state of Florida.  James Weldon Johnson’s training as an attorney was reflected in his association and in his collaboration with Walter White on Civil Right’s Cases.  White was Johnson’s assistant at The NAACP.

      By 1897, Johnson’s brother, named John Rosamond, had graduated from college with a degree in music.  The pair began collaborating on musical theater although their early attempts at writing a musical were unsuccessful.  Johnson, consequently, began writing lyrics while his brother composed music.  In addition to productions of a flopped musical called Tolosa, and more successful songs called “Tell Me, Dusky Maiden” and “Nobody’s Looking but the Owl and the Moon” the Johnson Brothers wrote “Lift Every Voice and Sing” in 1900 which became, through the NAACP, The Negro National Anthem.  The song was initially performed as a tribute to Abraham Lincoln on his birthday at The Stanton School.

      As a writer, James Weldon Johnson is, perhaps, the most famous for writing a novel which he had first published anonymously.  The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, written by Johnson in 1912, chronicles the experiences of an African-American Man who passes for White subsequently experiencing an identity- crises.  Although many people believed this effort at prose by Johnson to be autobiographical, Johnson claimed that his skin color was always too dark to “pass”. Consequently, he wrote his autobiography entitled Along This Way in 1934 to put the wagging tongues to rest.

      In 1906 Johnson began his career as a Diplomat with an appointment to Puerto Cabello, Venezuela as The United States’ Consul.  By 1909 he had become the consul to Nicaragua where he remained until 1913.   During this period of time he married Grace Nail in 1910 who was a well-educated New Yorker and who was an accomplished artist.  The couple had no children.

      Johnson returned to New York in 1914 writing a column on current affairs for the New York Age.  By 1917 he had begun his association with the eight year old NAACP.  Although he  began as a field-secretary, he was largely responsible for increasing membership in The NAACP throughout The South from ten thousand to over forty thousand people by 1920.  Throughout the 1920′s Johnson was The NAACP’s Chief-Operating-Officer.

       Throughout the 1920′s Johnson was also active in The Harlem Renaissance.  Not only did he sponsor and promote writers such as Claude McKay and Langston Hughes, but he, himself, was a prolific writer of poetry and prose during this period of time having published The Book of American Negro Poetry(1922), The Book of American Negro Spirituals(1925), The Second Book of American Negro Spirituals(1926), God’s Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse(1927) and Black Manhattan(1930).  By 1931, James Weldon Johnson, who remained on The NAACP’s Board of Directors, accepted a job as a Professor at Fisk University. Consequently, he divided his time between Nashville, where he taught American and African American Literature during the Winter and Spring Terms, and New  York.  Johnson’s last literary effort was a work of social criticism which he published in 1934 called Negro Americans, What Now? James Weldon Johnson died on June 26^th, 1938 in Wiscasset, Maine when his car was struck by an approaching train.  According to Wikipedia, his funeral in Harlem, New York was attended by at least 2,000 people.  

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:  Cleo E. Brown is an educator on staff in New York City, New York.  She is also a free lance writer and an Editor at HHR.  Her email address is celainebrown111@yahoo.com.