THE JOHNSON BROTHERS
James Weldon Johnson's lyrics to the song "Lift Every Voice and Sing," are now recognized as the Black National Anthem. He became principal of Stanton High School in 1894 in his hometown of Jacksonville, Florida, and went on to become leader of the NAACP, a nationally celebrated poet, as well as the consul to Venezuela. But Johnson was only one of two brothers.
Growing up musically talented like his older brother, John Rosamond Johnson wrote the music to "Lift Every Voice and Sing." He produced two successful Broadway operettas and founded a school in Harlem called the New York Music School Settlement for Colored People in 1918.
JOHN ROSAMOND JOHNSON
John Rosamond was born August 11, 1873 in Jacksonville, Florida. He is the younger brother of James Weldon Johnson, and the child of Helen Louise Dillet and James Johnson. His Father, James Johnsons, was a head waiter of St James Hotel and mother, Helen Louise Dillet, a stay at home mom during his time. Their mother became the first black Bahamian educator in the state of Florida.
Starting at the age of four, Rosamond started to learn the piano. Growing up musically talented like his older brother, John became choirmaster and head organist to local churches. He also wrote and composed operetta for his high school graduation exercises .
From 1890 to fall of 1897, John studied voice and piano first at New England Conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts and briefly in London. After his studies in Boston, John moved back to Jacksonville, Florida. He was soon appointed to be the supervisor of music for the Jacksonville Public School. Rosamond served twelve years as supervisor from 1896 to 1908.
In 1899, Rosamond traveled to New York with James to help produce an opera called Toloso, about the Spanish American War. They failed to get it produced, but Rosamond became highly respected in the Tin Pan Alley musical world by blending black music and theatrical music together. He intended to keep the integrity of black culture while deconstructing negative stereotypes of black Americans.
On February 12,1900, “ Lift Every Voice and Sing” was published and performed at Stanton Elementary for the first time. James Weldon Johnson, who was the principal of the school at the time, wanted the song to illustrate the enriched culture of well-educated children across the city of Jacksonville. The popularity of the hymn skyrocketed John’s career. Later in 1900, John and James officially partnered with musician Bob Cole, and . in the spring of 1908, they decided to fully commit to moving to New York City to work on future productions. While in New York, the Johnson Brothers and Cole produced two successful Broadway operettas with casts of black actors, and also created and produced several white musicals.
In 1911, John made his acting debut in the first African American show on Broadway, eventually getting leading roles in Porgy and Bess and A Cabin in the Sky.
In the 1930s and 1940s, Rosamond was part of group of actors called “The Fox,” who came together to support black actors on Broadway. Most white actors at the time wanted a Cole and Johnson song in their shows.
One of Rosamond’s major accomplishments was founding a school in Harlem called the New York Music School Settlement for Colored People in 1918. This school gave many young and aspiring musicians and singers an opportunity to compete in a ferocious industry. Over his lifetime, John arranged more than 150 spirituals and over 160 musical theater numbers with his brother and Cole.
JAMES WELDON JOHNSON
James Weldon Johnson was a noted author, educator, lawyer, and civil rights activist. He wrote the lyrics to the song "Lift Every Voice and Sing," which is now recognized as the “black national anthem.”
Johnson was born on June 17, 1871, in Jacksonville, Florida, to parents Helen Louise Dillet and James Johnson. Johnson was one of two brothers; he had a brother named John Rosamond. They established a short-lived newspaper called The Daily American.
Johnson attended Stanton Elementary School until 1887, whereupon he attended the preparatory division of Atlanta University. When he attended Stanton, it had been a school strictly for black students only. During this time there was no high school for blacks in Jacksonville Florida. Johnson believed blacks deserved a right to an education at all stages of their lives.
In 1894, Johnson returned to Jacksonville to become the principal of Stanton Elementary School. Johnson made it his goal to expand the school to include a high school education. He not only made his dreams a reality for himself but for his entire community. He expanded Stanton Elementary to include high schoolers in 1894, making it the only black high school in Jacksonville Florida. Johnson did want to stop his success there. So, while he was the principal at Stanton, he began studying law in 1898. His studies led him to becoming the first African American/black man to be accepted into the Florida bar since Reconstruction.
In 1900, he wrote his famous poem “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” His brother Rosamond transformed this poem into powerful song lyrics. The song was made for the 91st anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday and has since been acknowledged by Representative Hon. Alfred “Al” Lawson, Jr., who said, “The song reminds African Americans of our struggles and encourages us to never forget from whence we have come.”
In 1901, Johnson moved with his brother to New York to try their hand as a songwriting team in Tin Pan Alley. They would find fame with Bob Cole as the ragtime musical team Cole and Johnson.
1n 1906, he began an appointment in the Foreign Service as a U.S. consul to Venezuela. As consul to Nicaragua from 1906–1909, he finished one his masterworks, Autobiography of a Ex-Colored Man.
In 1920, Johnson became general secretary of the NAACP, leading the fight against lynching in the American South
Johnson’s poems and anthologies have had a lasting impact on literature, particularly his book of poems Fifty Years and Other Poems, and his anthology The Book of American Negro Poetry.