Fenton Johnson
Fenton Johnson was an American poet and writer born on May 7, 1888, in Chicago, Illinois. He emerged from a middle-class background, with his father working as a railroad porter. Johnson began his literary career early, publishing his poem "Absalom's Death" in a Chicago newspaper when he was just twelve. Educated at prestigious institutions such as Northwestern University, the University of Chicago, and Columbia University, he later taught at the State University in Louisville, Kentucky. Throughout his career, Johnson experimented with various poetic forms, moving from archaic Victorian diction to African American plantation dialect and free verse. His most notable work includes the poem "Tired," published in 1919, and several collections of poetry, essays, and short stories. Despite facing financial difficulties and slipping into obscurity later in life, Johnson's contributions to literature were recognized posthumously, particularly through anthologies like The New Poetry. His work often reflects the struggles and experiences of urban African Americans, establishing him as a significant voice in 20th-century American literature.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Fenton Johnson
Author
- Born: May 7, 1888
- Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois
- Died: September 17, 1958
- Place of death: Chicago, Illinois
Biography
Fenton Johnson was born into a middle-class home on May 7, 1888, in Chicago. His father, Elijah H. Johnson, was a railroad porter; his mother was Jesse Taylor Johnson. In 1900, his poem, “Absalom’s Death,” was published in a Chicago newspaper. He attended Northwestern University, University of Chicago, and Columbia University. During the 1911 through 1912 school year, he taught at the State University in Louisville, Kentucky. His first collection of poems, A Little Dreaming, was privately printed in 1913. He moved to New York, where he wrote for the Eastern Press Association. Returning to Chicago in 1916, he founded Champion Magazine, which only lasted a year. He then founded Favorite Magazine, which folded in 1920.
Though Johnson’s early poetry was marked by an archaic, Victorian diction, his later poetry experimented with African American plantation dialect and free verse. His finest poems were produced while he worked for the Federal Writers’ Project from 1918 through1920. Five of his spiritual poems were published in Poetry magazine. His most famous poem, “Tired,” was published in January 1919 in Others, edited by Alfred Kreymborg. After having privately printed three additional collections of poetry, Johnson published a collection of essays and a collection of short stories in 1920. Then, suffering from poverty, the poet slipped into oblivion. However, his work was included in both the 1923 and 1932 editions of The New Poetry, an anthology edited by Alice Corbin Henderson and Harriet Monroe.
Johnson’s most respected poems were never published in book form. Some of them are from “African Nights,” a lost manuscript. Others are from the unpublished manuscript “The Daily Grind: Forty-One WPA Poems,” now held at Fisk University. Johnson is recognized for his exploration of the struggles of urban African Americans.