James Weldon Johnson

James Weldon Johnson (June 17, 1871June 26, 1938) was an American writer and civil rights activist. He was married to civil rights activist Grace Nail Johnson. Johnson was a leader of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). He started working there in 1917. In 1920, he was the first African American to be the executive secretary of the organization. This made him the person in charge. Johnson held that position from 1920 to 1930. As a writer, he was known during the Harlem Renaissance for his poems and his novel. He also has a collection of both poems and spirituals of black culture. He wrote the lyrics for "Lift Every Voice and Sing". This was later known as the Negro National Anthem. The music for the song was written by his younger brother, composer J. Rosamond Johnson.

Johnson was the U.S. 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 was a professor at Fisk University, a historically black university.

 Related pages 
List of poets from North America

 References 

Category:1871 births
Category:1938 deaths
Category:19th-century American poets
Category:African-American writers
Category:American composers
Category:American diplomats
Category:Educators from Jacksonville, Florida
Category:Lawyers from Florida
Category:American novelists
Category:American poets
Category:National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
Category:Columbia University alumni
Category:Road accident deaths in the United States
Category:Writers from Jacksonville, Florida