JUNE 30TH, 1938.

EULOGY TO DR. JAMES WELDON JOHNSON

BY GENE BUCK

ON MONDAY I ARRIVED IN SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, AND AS SOON AS I REACHED MY HOTEL ROOM THE PHONE RANG AND I WAS TOLD OF THE PASSING OF MY DEAR FRIEND, JAMES WELDON JOHNSON, ONE OF THE GREATEST LIVING AMERICANS.

WHEN AN UNSEEN HAND DRAMATICALLY TOUCHED THIS GREAT MAN IT REMOVED FROM THE AMERICAN SCENE ONE OF THE GREATEST CONTRIBUTORS TO AMERICAN LIFE AND CIVILIZATION THAT HAS EVER GRACED THIS EARTH.

SOMEONE HAS SAID, "WHEN WE LOSE A FRIEND WE DIE A LITTLE". WELL, I DIED A LITTLE AND THOSE WHO HAD THE GREAT, GREAT, GREAT GOOD FORTUNE TO KNOW THIS DISTINGUISHED, KINDLY, NOBLE MAN, BE-SIDES THIS NATION, "DIED A LITTLE" IN THE PASSING OF JAMES WELDON JOHNSON.

I FLEW BACK YESTERDAY TO BE HERE ALONGSIDE OF THE LAST MORTAL REMAINS OF MY OLD FRIEND, THIS EXTRAORDINARY, AMAZING AND SWEET MAN.

NO WORDS OF MINE NOR ANY PERSON IN THIS NATION COULD EVER ADEQUATELY ESTIMATE THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF JIM JOHNSON. FOR NEARLY THIRTY-FIVE YEARS WE WERE FRIENDS AND I COME HERE WITH WHAT HUMBLE GIFTS I POSSESS TO PAY A TRIBUTE TO HIS MEMORY.

MEMORY IS LIKE A MIRROR. WE GAZE AHEAD INTO IT TO SEE WHAT IS BEHIND US. I GO BACK AROUND THE TURN OF THE CENTURY WHEN I MET THIS MAN WITH HIS GREAT GIFTS. HE WAS A DREAMER, A POET, A STATESMAN, AN EDUCATOR AND HE WAS AN AUTHOR AND, INIDENTALLY, ONE OF THE GREAT BOOKS THAT I BELIEVE WRITTEN IN MODERN TIMES IS JIM'S JOURNAL, "ALONG THIS WAY", WRITTEN IN RECENT YEARS WHEREIN FROM THOSE PAGES JUMP THE DREAMS AND IDEALS AND YEARNINGS OF ALL HE DESIRED FOR A GREAT RACE AND A GREAT PEOPLE.

I WAS ATTRACTED TO HIM WHEN I MET HIM WITH HIS BROTHER, ROSAMOND, WHO IS HERE TODAY AND WHOSE TEARS REFRESH THESE FLOWERS. I NEVER KNEW OF A DEEPER AFFECTION BETWEEN TWO BROTHERS THAN BETWEEN ROSAMOND AND JIM JOHNSON. IN THOSE DAYS WHEN I FIRST MET HIM BOB COLE, BERT WILLIAMS, GEORGE WALKER, ERNEST HOGAN AND OTHERS WERE THE LEADING ENTERTAINERS OF THIS NATION AND MY MEMORY GOES BACK TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO WHEN WE SAT AT A DINNER IN LUCHOW'S RESTAURANT WITH THE GREAT AND BELOVED VICTOR HERBERT AND OTHER FAMOUS COMPOSERS AND AUTHORS AND JIM SAT AMONGST US. HE JOINED US IN OUR ENDEAVOR TO HELP MAKE IT A LITTLE EASIER FOR THOSE WHO COMPOSED THE MUSIC AND SONGS OF THIS NATION. IT WAS SO CHARACTERISTIC OF HIM. I KNOW OF NO MAN IN THIS COUNTRY WHO HAS DONE MORE WITH TOLERANCE AND UNDERSTANDING TO STAMP OUT

#2

INTOLERANCE AND TO HAVE HIS RACE TAKE ITS "PLACE IN THE SUN" AND THE PEOPLE HE SPOKE FOR, IN MY HUMBLE ESTIMATION, HAVE DONE MORE FOR AMERICAN MUSIC THAN ANY OTHER RACE BECAUSE THEIR COMPOSITIONS WERE THE ESSENCE OF THE GENUINE FUNDAMENTALS OF AMERICAN MUSIC -- THE ONLY REAL MUSIC WE CAN CALL OUR OWN.

I FIND IT DIFFICULT TO EXPRESS MYSELF TODAY BECAUSE SOME-TIMES MY EMOTIONS GET IN THE WAY OF MY THOUGHTS IN MY APPRAISAL OF THIS DEAR MAN. I REALIZE THERE ARE THOSE IN THE BOOKS AND MAGAZINES AND THE PRESS TO RECORD THIS MAN'S MATERIAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS BUT I AM TRYING TO SAY FROM THE DEPTHS, FROM THE DEPTHS OF MY HEART, IS TO GIVE EXPRESSION TO THAT OTHER PHASE OF THIS MAN'S LIFE AND CHARACTER THAT COLD TYPE CAN NEVER REPORT.

I SEE SITTING IN THE FRONT PEW HERE TODAY COLONEL TED ROOSEVELT, THE SON OF ONE OF THE GREATEST AMERICANS THAT EVER LIVED, WHO SHORTLY AFTER THE TURN OF THE CENTURY WHEN THEODORE ROOSEVELT WAS PRESIDENT, HE SAW IN JIM A YOUNG, STERLING MAN WITH A BURNING ZEAL TO BE OF SERVICE AND HELP AND I SAY, WITHOUT ANY FEAR OF DE-NIAL WITH A KNOWLEDGE OF WHENCE I SPEAK, THAT WHEN THIS TRAGIC ACCIDENT HAPPENED SUNDAY, IT REMOVED THE GREATEST PERSON OF HIS RACE, NOT ALONE IN THE UNITED STATES BUT THROUGHOUT THE WORLD. HE HAD DISTINCTION AND AN UNUSUALLY CLEAR MIND, A GREAT HEART, UNSELFISH VISION AND HE WAS A REAL CRUSADER AND WITH IT ALL A GENTLEMAN.

WE DINED TOGETHER WITHIN THE MONTH ABOUT THREE WEEKS AGO AND JIM NEVER CAME TO TOWN THAT WE DID NOT SIT DOWN AND HAVE A LITTLE CHAT AND NOW I'LL MISS HIM. HOW I'LL MISS HIM! HE HELPED ME. I WAS THE BENEFICIARY IN MY HUMBLE ENDEAVORS IN THE CALLING THAT I HAVE BEEN DEVOTING SOME OF MY LIFE TO TO MAKE IT EASIER FOR THOSE WHO WRITE THE UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE -- MUSIC.

I REFERRED TO COLONEL ROOSEVELT AND I REFERRED TO HIS FATHER. WITH ALL THE GIFTS THAT JIM JOHNSON POSSESSED, HE WAS A STATESMAN. BY STATESMANSHIP I DON'T MEAN THE POLITICIAN OR THE DEMAGOGUE. HE HAD GREAT GIFTS WITHIN HIMSELF AND THE VISION GOD GAVE HIM TO LEAD HIS RACE, TO LEAD HIS PEOPLE WITH DIGNITY AND UNDERSTANDING AND THAT THERE SHOULD BE A BETTER UNDERSTANDING AMONG ALL OUR PEOPLE.

TO MRS. JOHNSON WHO HAS BEEN IN THE "SHADOWS" THESE RECENT DAYS AND TO HIS BROTHER MY DEEP SYMPATHY. I NEVER SAW A GREATER AFFECTION BETWEEN TWO HUMAN BEINGS IN MY LIFE THAN EXISTED BETWEEN JIM AND ROSAMOND. AS I SAY, I GO BACK THIRTY-FIVE YEARS WITH THIS DEAR MAN AND I SUBSCRIBE TO A RELIGIOUS DELIEF THAT MAKES IT POS-SIBLE TO DELIEVE THAT JIM IS HERE AND I SUBSCRIBE TO A PERSONAL DELIEF THAT JIM WAS ONE WHO WOULD HAVE YOU SAY OF HIM NOT TO BE SORRY THAT HE WAS DEAD OUT TO BE GLAD THAT HE LIVED. HERE LIES A REAL MAN.

TO MRS. JOHNSON, HIS WIDOW AND TO HIS BELOVED BROTHER,

#3

ROSAMOND AND FAMILY, ON DEHALF OF THOSE I HAVE THE HONOR TO SPEAK FOR, OUR GENUINE, DEEP AND HEARTFELT CONDOLENCE AND SYMPATHY IN THIS DARK HOUR.

I AM ONE OF THOSE WHO DELIEVES THAT WHAT JIM LEFT CAN NEVER DIE. IT CAN'T DIE. THIS MAN'S CONTRIBUTIONS AS AN EDITOR, AUTHOR, POET AND EDUCATOR ARE DEEP IN THE HEARTS OF OUR PEOPLE. I DELIEVE HE ATTAINED A POSITION DEYOND, AS STRANGE AS IT MAY SEEM, THAN THAT OF DOOKER T. WASHINGTON, THAT GREAT MAN. THIS MAY SEEM TO SOME OF YOU TO BE AN EXTRAORDINARY STATEMENT BUT JAMES WELDON JOHNSON IN THE SCOPE OF HIS ACTIVITIES OF HEART AND MIND WAS WIDER THAN THE GREAT EDUCATOR. JIM CAME IN CONTACT WITH EVERY POSSIBLE TYPE OF PERSON IN THIS COUNTRY. NEVER FOR ONE MOMENT IN HIS LIFETIME DID JIM EVER ALLOW HIS HIGH STANDARDS AND IDEALS TO BE LOWERED FOR EXPEDIENCY. WITH HIS INTELLECTUAL HONESTY AND HIS YARDSTICK OF GOOD TASTE HE DROUGHT HONORS AND DISTINCTION TO THE COUNTRY AND HIS RACE.

MANY THOUGHTS SURGE THROUGH MY MIND TALKING ABOUT JIM. MANY ARE FILLED WITH MEMORIES RICH AND COLORFUL. AS I WAS FLYING IN A PLANE ACROSS THIS NATION YESTERDAY THINKING ABOUT HIM, I SAW RAILROAD TRAINS WEAVING THEIR WAY THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS AND I SAW WHAT MAN HAS ACCOMPLISHED. I HAVE LISTENED TO PEOPLE SAY IN THESE DAYS OF DISLOCATION IN TRYING TO FIND A SOLUTION FOR THE COMPLEX PROBLEMS THAT CONFRONT US, I HEAR MEN SAY THAT THERE ARE NO MORE FRONTIERS. HOW SILLY THAT IS! THIS MAN FOUND NEW FRONTIERS -- THE FRONTIERS OF HEART AND MIND THAT NO PERSON WHO DUILT A RAILROAD OR ACCOMPLISHED SOME OF THESE TREMENDOUS MATERIALISTIC THINGS CAN STAND IN THE SAME SPOT WITH JIM JOHNSON IN HIS CONTRIBUTIONS WITH HIS MIND AND HEART WHICH HAVE LEFT AN INDELIBLE IMPRESSION ON THIS NATION.

IN EXTENDING TO THOSE HE LEAVES BEHIND MY DEEP SYMPATHY, I REALIZE THESE WORDS OF MINE ARE AN INADEQUATE ESTIMATE OF THIS FINE MAN. THEY ARE INADEQUATE. I CAN ONLY ESTIMATE AND ONLY THE YEARS WILL SHOW AND THE YEARS WILL TELL OF WHAT THIS MAN'S CONTRIBUTIONS ARE TO HIS GREAT RACE WHICH AFFECTED MILLIONS AND MILLIONS OF OUR PEOPLE.

JIM HAD NOBILITY. HE HAD CULTURE. HE HAD INFINITE TASTE AND A BURNING DESIRE, A DEEP AND BURNING DESIRE THAT WOULD NOT CEASE WITH HIS HOPES AND DREAMS AND INTEGRITY AND ABILITY HE MADE MANY DREAMS COME TRUE. HE WAS A GREAT FORCE AND LEADER.

SOMEONE HAS SAID, "WHEN WE LEARN TO TREAT THE LIVING WITH THE TENDERNESS WHICH WE INSTINCTIVELY TREAT THE DEAD, WE SHALL HAVE CONTRIBUTED SOMETHING TO OUR CIVILIZATION WORTH PRESERVING". HERE IN THE PRESENCE OF THE MYSTERY OF DEATH I SUBSCRIBE TO THAT AND I FEEL JIM WOULD TOO.

JIM WOULD NOT HAVE YOU WEEP. THIS GREAT SOUL WOULD NOT HAVE YOU WEEP OUT TO THINK OF HIM AND UNDERSTAND THE THINGS