James Weldon Johnson, African American author, composer, lawyer, teacher, and civil rights activist, was born in Jacksonville on this date in 1871. In his early years in Jacksonville, Johnson was educated first by his mother, but later graduated from the Edwin M. Stanton School, where he excelled. He would later teach at Stanton, and became principal of the school in 1906, after graduating from Clark Atlanta University. James and his brother, J. Rosamond, lived in New York City for a time and were part of the African American cultural movement known as the Harlem Renaissance. It was there that Johnson and his brother wrote and composed the song, “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing,” later referred to as the “Negro National Anthem.” Johnson was the first African American admitted to the Florida bar, and the first from Duval County to ever seek admission. He was active in the NAACP, becoming the first black executive secretary in 1920. Johnson wrote many articles and books, often dealing with race relations in America, throughout his lifetime. “The Autography of an Ex-Colored Man,” published in 1912, and “God’s Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse,” published in 1927, are considered to be two of his most influential works. Johnson died in a car accident in 1938 while vacationing in Maine, but his legacy lives on in Florida and beyond.
~Florida Historical Society
