Author, politician, diplomat, critic, journalist, poet, anthologist, educator, lawyer, songwriter, and early civil rights activist, James Weldon Johnson is remembered best for his leadership within the NAACP, as well as for his writing, which includes novels, poems, and collections of folklore.
Johnson’s books of poems include: To a Friend (1892), Lift Every Voice and Sing (1899), O Black and Unknown Bards (1908), Fifty Years (1917), and God’s Trombones (1927). He is also the author of the fictional The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man (1912), and edited the anthologies The Book of American Negro Poetry (1922) and The Book of American Negro Spirituals (1925).
He lived at this residence while working for the NAACP. Other jobs Johnson held include U.S. Consul to Venezuela (1906-1908) and U.S. Consul to Nicaragua (1909-1913), and Chair of Creative Literature at Fisk University.
The Homes
1333 R St. NW, Washington, DC
James Weldon Johnson
1333 R St. NW, Washington DC
Located in U Street/Strivers Section neighborhood, Northwest - East of Rock Creek