Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing Park is the birth site of James Weldon Johnson and John Rosamond Johnson.
Money raised during the inaugural Lavilla Jazz and Heritage Festival will be dedicated to the development of Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing Park.
On this site, in a small frame house, James Weldon Johnson was born on June 17, 1871. He was the first African-American to pass the State Bar Exam in Florida, the first African-American Secretary of the NAACP, and a noted educator, author, diplomat, and poet. Johnson was instrumental in the creation of Stanton High School as the first public high school in Florida for African-Americans, and he served as its principal. He wrote several books of poetry, including “God’s Trombones” and his best-known work, “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing”, which was adopted as the “Negro National Anthem” by the NAACP
On this site, in a small frame house, John Rosamond Johnson was born on August 11, 1873. Rosamond was a genuine prodigy, teaching himself piano by age 4. In 1890, he attended the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. He then later studied music in London as well. In 1900, he put the words of his brother’s poem, “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing” to music. This became first the unofficial, then official Black National Anthem.