James Weldon Johnson was born in Jacksonville, Florida on June 17, 1871. His father, a headwaiter at a hotel, and his mother, a teacher at the segregated Stanton School, raised Johnson in a middle-class home that nurtured his interest in reading and music. Johnson attended Stanton during his elementary and junior high years and Atlanta University during high school and college. He received his bachelor’s in 1894.
Johnson Pursues a Writing Career
After college Johnson pursued several endeavors. He became the principal of Stanton School, and among his accomplishments was his decision to expand the school to include a high school. He also began studying the law under the instruction of a white attorney. In 1898, he was admitted to the Florida Bar. Johnson continued to serve as principal, but he also began practicing law.While balancing his dual career, Johnson found time to write poetry and songs. In 1901, he decided to pursue a career in writing. Johnson and his brother, John Rosamond Johnson, left for New York City to write songs for musicals. They achieved success with the composition of around two hundred songs for Broadway.
Johnson Serves in the Public Sector
While in New York, Johnson also became involved in politics. In 1904, he served as treasurer for the Colored Republican Club. In 1906, the Roosevelt Administration appointed Johnson as the United States consul in Puerto Cabello, Venezuela. In 1909, he served as consul in Corinto, Nicaragua until 1913. In addition to his service as consul, during this time, Johnson anonymously published his novel The Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man (1912).
Johnson Fights Against Racism
After leaving the public sector in 1916, Johnson accepted the position of field secretary for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Johnson worked at opening new branches and expanding membership. In 1920, the NAACP appointed him executive secretary. In this position he was able to bring attention to racism, lynching, and segregation. After ten years of serving as executive secretary, Johnson resigned and accepted a creative writing teaching position at Fisk University.Johnson developed his own philosophy on lessoning racism in America. While W.E.B. Du Bois advocated intellectual development and Booker T. Washington advocated industrial training to combat racism, Johnson believed that it was important for blacks to produce great literature and art. By doing so, Johnson held that blacks could demonstrate their intellectual equality and advance their placement in America.
Johnson wrote several notable works before and during the Harlem Renaissance. One of his more popular works was God's Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse (1927). In 1927, he also reissued his novel The Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man, in his name.
Johnson died of injuries he sustained when his car was hit by a train on June 26, 1938.
