Writings : the autobiography of an ex-colored man ; Along this way ; New York Age editorials ; Selected essays ; Black Manhattan ; Selected poems / James Weldon Johnson.

Author
Johnson, James Weldon, 1871-1938 [Browse]
Uniform title
Format
Book
Language
English
Published/​Created
New York : Literary Classics of the United States : Distributed by Penguin Books, ©2004.
Description
902 pages : illustrations ; 21 cm

Availability

Copies in the Library

Location Call Number Status Location Service Notes
Firestone Library - Stacks PS3519.O2625 A6 2004 Browse related items Request

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    Summary note
    James Weldon Johnson's career was one of extraordinary range, spanning the worlds of diplomacy (as U.S. consul in Venezuela and Nicaragua), politics (as Secretary of the NAACP), journalism (as founder of one newspaper and longtime editor of another), musical theater (as lyricist for the Broadway songwriting team of Cole and Johnson Brothers), and literature (as novelist, poet, and anthologist). At the dawning of what would become the modern civil rights movement, he forged a record of accomplishment that defied the odds. The Library of America now presents a collection of his writings that displays the many facets of a complex and impassioned writer. The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man (1912), Johnson's first book, is a novel which on its original anonymous publication was taken by many for an actual memoir. A groundbreaking work of modern fiction, it powerfully describes the inner development of a gifted, socially alienated man as he tries to come to terms with the constraints of racism. Along This Way (1933) is Johnson's genial and enthralling account of his fantastically busy life, with a cast of characters including W.E.B. Du Bois, Paul Robeson, Clarence Darrow, Booker T. Washington, Theodore Roosevelt, Carl Van Vechten, and many others. A selection of shorter prose -- editorials from The New York Age, political essays, literary prefaces, an excerpt from the historical study Black Manhattan -- confirms the variety of Johnson's interests, as he comments on figures and topics including Jack Johnson, Marcus Garvey, Woodrow Wilson, lynching, anti-Japanese discrimination in California, American involvement in Haiti, changing trends in theater and poetry, and the significance of spirituals. Johnson's poetry is represented by the full text of God's Trombones (1927), his stirring homage to African-American preaching, and shorter works including "O Black and Unknown Bards," lyrics from Johnson's Broadway songwriting days, and "Lift Every Voice and Sing," the hymn often referred to as the "Negro National Anthem."
    Bibliographic references
    Includes bibliographical references (p. 892-906).
    Contents
    • The autobiography of an ex-colored man
    • Along this way
    • New York Age editorials
    • Selected essays
    • Black Manhattan
    • Selected poems.
    Other title(s)
    • Autobiography of an ex-colored man.
    • Along this way.
    • New York Age editorials.
    • Black Manhattan.
    ISBN
    • 1931082529 ((alk. paper))
    • 9781931082525 ((alk. paper))
    LCCN
    2003044227
    OCLC
    52381306
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