Georgia Douglas Johnson, who is associated with the Harlem Renaissance literary movement, was an extremely prolific poet, one of the first female African American playwrights, and a musician. Born Georgia Blanche Douglas Camp, she was raised in Georgia where throughout her education she developed her proficiencies in reading, recitations, physical education, and music and taught herself how to play the violin. After completing her education at Atlanta University’s Normal School in 1896, Johnson became a teacher until deciding to attend Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio in 1902 to further advance her musical abilities. Afterwards she moved back to Atlanta, obtaining a position as an assistant principal, and married lawyer Henry Lincoln Johnson, a prominent member of the Republican party, with whom she had two sons. After his appointment to the political patronage position of Recorder of Deeds for the District of Columbia under President William Howard Taft, they moved to Washington, D.C. There, Johnson became active in the cultural life that existed within the upper class African American society. It was during this time that she began in earnest to write poems, plays, stories, and songs. Her poems were published in various magazines including The Voice of the Negro and The Crisis, the NAACP’s journal. She also published four collections of her poetry to critical acclaim, starting with The Heart of a Woman (1916). Her writings included racial issues and feminist themes describing what life was like for women during this time including in situations such as love, loneliness, isolation, and motherhood. Johnson became the first female African American to receive national recognition as a poet since Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825-1911). She did a lot of traveling, giving poetry readings until her husband passed away in 1925, resulting in her becoming a single mother of two teenage boys. She was then appointed by President Calvin Coolidge to the political appointee position of Commissioner of Conciliation in the Department of Labor out of respect for her late husband’s contributions to the country and the Republican party, a position she held until 1934. In addition to her poetry, Johnson is also renowned for her work in the national black theatre movement. She wrote approximately 28 plays, although only a couple were published during her lifetime due to her race and gender. Themes in these works included inconsistencies that were apparent throughout life in the United States, such as the disparity between how white individuals treat black Americans and the Christian doctrine, economic differences, and experiences such as how black men have no constitutional rights despite having fought in wars for their country. Johnson was also active in the anti-lynching movement and was a founding member of the lynching drama tradition. She participated in several of the NAACP’s anti-lynching campaigns and belonged to the Writers League Against Lynching. It was also after becoming a widow that Johnson would hold “Saturday Salons” every week for forty years at her home, a location which later became known as the S Street Salon. Prominent authors of the Harlem Renaissance would meet there to socialize and discuss ideas and writings. Her home became a safe space that provided nurturing and creativity for black artists, leading Johnson to becoming instrumental in making the Harlem Renaissance movement a national one and not just contained to Harlem. Story derived from wikipedia.org.

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