James Weldon Johnson (Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition)
Biography
James Weldon Johnson led one of the most diverse lives of any American writer. Given the difficulty of success and accomplishment for African Americans for all of the nineteenth and most of the twentieth century, Johnson's busy, successful life was nothing short of remarkable.
He was born James William Johnson in 1871. He changed his middle name to Weldon in 1913 because, as he wrote to a friend, “Jim Bill Johnson will not do for a man who pretends to write poetry or anything else.” Despite his being born within a decade of the signing of the...
[The entire page is 4200 words long]
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
Navigate
See Also
