James Weldon Johnson was born on June 17, 1871 in Jacksonville, Florida. Johnson was the eldest son of James Johnson, Sr., a head waiter at a hotel, and Helen Louise (née Dillet), a schoolteacher at the Stanton Preparatory School in Jacksonville, where Johnson would later become a principal at age twenty-three. His parents were immigrants from the Bahamas. Johnson attended Stanton, where his mother, who was one of his instructors, encouraged him to study English literature and the European musical tradition. He attended Atlanta University (now, Clark Atlanta University) and graduated with a BA, with honors, in 1894. Johnson took graduate courses at Columbia University sometime in the 1900s, but graduated with an MA from Atlanta University in 1904.

In 1900, he wrote the song “Lift Every Voice and Sing” on the occasion of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. The song was immensely popular in the Black community and became known as the “Negro National Anthem.” Johnson also composed two songs for Theodore Roosevelt’s 1904 presidential campaign. Johnson also received honorary degrees from Talladega College in Alabama and Howard University.