James Weldon Johnson was the eldest of two sons, born on June 17, 1871 in Jacksonville, Florida, to the parents of James Johnson and Helen Dillet Johnson. After being born, his mother became very ill, ill enough to not be able to nurse him. Miraculously there was a neighbor who just had a baby girl which was also her friend, who lived a block away. After her baby was christened, she heard of his mothers’ complication, she took Johnson and nursed him until his mother recovered and was able to nurse him with her breast milk (Johnson 9). His mother secured a good English education while growing up in New York. She was one of the first African American to teach in Jacksonville. His father who was self – educated was born free in Virginia (Aberjhani 179). After the birth of his oldest son he built a new house on his own lot, where later on his youngest son was born (Johnson 8). Johnson was first educated by his mother (Johnson 12). Growing up the Johnson boys were surrounded by music, bilingual conversations, and traveling (Aberjhani 179).
At the time in Jacksonville the schools for blacks only offered classes no higher than the eighth grade, his parents sent him to Atlanta University in Atlanta, Georgia, at the age of 16. There he finished high school then went to college. Johnson later on graduated from college with a B.A. in 1894, then later on earning his M.A. in 1904. After graduating from Atlanta University in 1894, he accepted the offer to appoint the position of being the principal of Jacksonville’s Stanton High School. This also is where he attended grammar school and also where his mother had taught. While he was a principal there, he added two more grades to the schooling system (Aberjhani 179).
When he decided to move to New York in the late 1890s, Johnson started his second career as a co writer of hit songs and musicals with his younger brother, J. Rosamond Johnson. Some of their top compositions were “Under the Bamboo Tree,” “Congo Love Song,” “Maiden...
