Intimate Circles | Grace Nail Johnson

Grace Nail Johnson
1910
James Weldon Johnson Papers

The daughter of one of New York’s leading African-American families, Grace Nail married James Weldon Johnson in 1910 when he was serving as American consul in Cortino, Nicaragua. When they returned to the United States in 1913, her husband, already a celebrated songwriter, poet, and activist, wanted to settle in midtown Manhattan. Grace Nail Johnson insisted they move instead to Harlem where, in the years that followed, they became active members of their community and important advocates for the artistic and intellectual work of the Harlem Renaissance.

The wife of poet and civil rights activist James Weldon Johnson, Grace Nail Johnson, know as the "Grand Dame of Harlem," was a popular hostess who brought together Harlem’s artistic and political elite. A steadfast supporter of the battle to increase civil liberties, Mrs. Johnson lent her famous name to organizations campaigning for fair wages and increased job opportunities for African Americans. Among Grace Johnson’s most significant contributions to the arts was her part in founding the James Weldon Johnson Memorial Collection of American Negro Arts and Letters at Yale University. After his sudden death in a car accident, Johnson’s many friends hoped to erect a monument dedicated to him in Harlem. However, as World War II approached and the necessary raw materials became scarce, it seemed the project would be abandoned. The Johnsons’ dear friend Carl Van Vechten suggested an alternative: the creation of the James Weldon Johnson Memorial Collection. Grace Nail Johnson embraced the idea and, along with Van Vechten, sought contributions for the collection from her friends and acquaintances. Today, the James Weldon Johnson Memorial Collection at the Beinecke Library is world renowned for its rich holdings, which include the archives of Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and many others.