John Rosamond Johnson was one of the more important figures in black music in the first part of the 20th century, usually in partnership with Bob Cole or with his brother James Weldon Johnson. While he is chiefly remembered today as the composer of the Black National Anthem, “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing,” he had a varied career as a pianist, songwriter, producer, soldier, singer, and actor.
Rosamond Johnson was born in Jacksonville, Florida, on August 11, 1873. He began playing the piano at age four, studied at the New England Conservatory, and with Samuel Coleridge-Taylor in London. He may have performed in 1896 with Isham Jones’ Oriental America show in New York.
By the end of the 19th century, Johnson was teaching schoolchildren in the Jacksonville region. Around 1900 Johnson wrote and taught these schoolchildren “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing.” Its popularity caused it to spread until it became the unofficial, then official, Black National Anthem.