James Weldon Johnson
American writer and activist (1871-1938) · United States · On the map · Writers · Died at 67
James Weldon Johnson 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), where he started working in 1917.
James Weldon Johnson is read about 218 times a day, in 22 languages.
A typical day, 30 days to 10 November 2026
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Photos 6
Johnson lived here in the Logan Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C., while serving as national organizer for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
Famously performed in the film Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), the song "Under the Bamboo Tree" was written by the Johnson brothers and Bob Cole for the Broadway show Sally in Our Alley (1902)
Aged around 30 at the time of this photo, Johnson had already written "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing" and been admitted to the Florida bar.
Illustration of James Weldon Johnson by Charles Henry Alston
James Weldon Johnson Library in South St. Petersburg, Florida, interior, November 13, 2024Awards
About this person
In 1920, he was chosen as executive secretary of the organization, effectively the operating officer. He served in that position from 1920 to 1930. In 1928 and then again in 1930 he received Rosenwald fellowships from the Rosenwald Fund to write Black Manhattan.
