My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I have been in love with the Library of America (LOA) for a long time now and there are two main reasons why. First, the uniform book designs are just gorgeous. Put a row of LOA’s books together on your shelf and they are a definite conversation start. On top of that, if you treat them well, these books will last a long time on your shelf long after your other books have yellowed and collected dust. The other reason why I love LOA books is because of their commitment to keeping great works of American literature, both well-known and lesser known, in print in perpetuity. This gives ordinary Americans a chance to discover more obscure, but wonderful, works by authors they may never have heard of, such as Henry Adams’s
History of the United States During the Administrations of Thomas Jefferson
and
History of the United States During the Administrations of James Madison
. This single-volume collection of the writings of James Weldon Johnson is another one of those more obscure gems that LOA has that deserves to better known.
James Weldon Johnson was an African-American polymath at the turn of the century. He was a writer, an educator, a musical composer, a poet, an early leader of the NAACP, and a diplomat. Sadly, I knew nothing about him until I picked up this book from LOA not too long ago. And yet he had an impact on American politics and culture deeper than most people realize. His novel, The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, which is the first work included in this volume, is one of the first works in American literature to deal directly with the issues of colorism and white passing that are now more commonly discussed today. His musical writing included the song “Lift Every Voice and Sing” is celebrated even today as the Black national anthem. As the NAACP’s first executive secretary, he expanded the organizations reach into the South and initiated some of the first lawsuits against the region’s disenfranchisement of Black Americans, though Mr. Johnson would die long before those efforts would come to fruition in Brown v. Board of Education and the major civil rights laws of the 1960s. And his work as a diplomat enabled him to write with great knowledge and insight on issues such as the U.S. occupation of Haiti (that essay is also included in this volume as well). In many ways, James Weldon Johnson is a forerunner to both the Harlem Renaissance and the Civil Rights Movement.
This volume of his works is wonderful. Along with Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man is Mr. Johnson’s own memoirs, which gives an intimate view of his life from his perspective. Mr. Johnson’s essays are some of this books highlights, particularly his essay on the U.S. occupation of Haiti, which should be more widely read today as Haiti once again descends into political chaos and Americans wonder what, if anything, should be done. The inclusion of several of Mr. Johnson’s poems and lyrics, including the famous “Lift Every Voice”, is also a treat. The only weak point in this volume is the inclusion of a couple of chapters Mr. Johnson wrote for a book called Black Manhattan about Black Americans in the theater around the turn of the century. As a writer of Broadway musicals himself, Mr. Johnson was an expert on the theater and it shows in these excerpts. However, it is also a very esoteric subject. Only those with a keen interest in the history of American theater, and especially of Black Americans in the theater, are likely to enjoy this section.
Overall, this another hidden gem within the Library of America’s collection. This book should be read alongside the works of W.E.B Du Bois, Zora Neale Hurston, and other near contemporary Black authors of the period. If you have made your way through the works of the Harlem Renaissance, I highly recommend this volume as your next read.
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