James Weldon Johnson (June 17, 1871-June 26, 1938) was an American author, educator, lawyer, diplomat, songwriter, and civil rights activist. Johnson is best remembered for his lea...view moreJames Weldon Johnson (June 17, 1871-June 26, 1938) was an American author, educator, lawyer, diplomat, songwriter, and civil rights activist. Johnson is best remembered for his leadership of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). He was appointed under President Theodore Roosevelt as US consul in Venezuela and Nicaragua for most of the period from 1906 to 1913. In 1934 he was the first African-American professor to be hired at New York University. Later in life he became a professor of creative literature and writing at Fisk University.
Johnson established his reputation as a writer, and was known during the Harlem Renaissance for his poems, novels, and anthologies collecting both poems and spirituals of black culture. He published The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man anonymously in 1912, to avoid controversy, only acknowledging writing the novel in 1927, maintaining it wasn't a memoir.view less
Slavery: Not Forgiven, Never Forgotten – The Most Powerful Slave Narratives, Historical Documents & Influential Novels: A Legacy of Resistance and Freedom
Classic Black Narratives: 12 Years a Slave, The Souls of Black Folk, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, and The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man
70+ Anthology. African American literature. Novels and short stories. Poetry. Non-fiction. Essays: Passing, The Goophered Grapevine, The Weary Blues, Up from Slavery, The Souls of Black Folk and others
101 Great American Poems: To My Dear and Loving Husband, The Planting of the Apple-Tree, Concord Hymn, The Arrow and the Song, Alone, Annabel Lee and others