Charles S. Johnson: Leadership beyond the Veil in the Age of Jim Crow

A compelling biography of a key figure of the Harlem Renaissance, an eminent Chicago-trained sociologist, and a pioneering race relations leader.

The milestones for blacks in twentieth-century America―the Harlem Renaissance, the struggle for equal education, and the civil rights movement―would have been inconceivable without the contributions of one important but often overlooked figure, Charles S. Johnson (1893–1956). This compelling biography demonstrates the scope of his achievements, situates him among other black intellectuals of his time, and casts new light on a pivotal era in the struggle for black equality in America.

An impresario of Harlem Renaissance culture, an eminent Chicago-trained sociologist, a pioneering race relations leader, and an educator of the generation that freed itself from legalized segregation, Johnson was a visionary who linked the everyday struggles of blacks with the larger intellectual and political currents of the day. His distinguished career included twenty-eight years at Fisk University, where he established the famed Race Relations Institute and became Fisk’s first black president.