- Georgia Douglas Johnson (1886- 1966) gained recognition as a poet of “The Genteel School” of writers prior to the Harlem Renaissance. Because some of her major works were published during this historic period, some historians saw her as “definitely of it, but equally definitely not in it.” She did have, however, an impact on the literati of the New Negro Movement through her “Saturday Soirees,” which she hosted regularly at her home on “S” Street in northwest Washington, D.C. Born in Atlanta, she was educated at Atlanta University and at Oberlin College. She moved to Washington when her husband, Henry Lincoln Johnson, was appointed recorder of deeds by President Taft in 1909. The Page 420 →Johnsons immediately gravitated toward literary, political, and human rights activities along the East Coast. The abundant and kaleidoscopic nature of Georgia Douglas Johnson’s creativity is apparent in her books of poetry, her plays, and in her first love, her music. Johnson’s literary works appeared in books and journals from 1905 until her death.
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