1900's- Artist James Weldon Johson

In 1900 the poem "Lift Every Voice and Sing" was set to music by John Rosamond Johnson. John was born on August 11,1873. He was the brother of James Weldon Johnson who had written the poem originally. James Weldon Johnson was born James William Johnson on June 17, 1871 in Jacksonville Florida. He changed his middle name to Weldon in 1913. He received his A.B. from Atlanta University in 1894, and while he was attending college he taught in Hampton, Georgia. For the first time in his life he witnessed poor African-Americans. This was because he was from a middle-class family and was sheltered from this extreme poverty. James Johnson did not like the stereotypes of blacks in popular music. The song "Lift Every Voice and Sing" was first sung in February of 1900 by the children of Stanton School in Jacksonville, Florida. Stanton School was the first African-American school in Florida.