The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man

Credits and rights

Original writer

James Weldon Johnson

Publisher of this edition

BoingyBooks Classics

Original publisher

Project Gutenberg

Adaptation credits

John Shoufler / BoingyBooks Classics — digital edition

Original source / edition

The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man (1912)

License

Public Domain

License link

https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

Rights and adaptation notice

This work is in the public domain. John Shoufler published this digital edition through BoingyBooks Classics. The original work remains public domain and may be copied, adapted, and shared.

The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man by James Weldon Johnson (1912)

A light-skinned man of mixed race navigates both Black and white worlds in turn-of-the-century America, ultimately choosing to "pass" as white — and living with the consequences of that choice. A groundbreaking novel of racial identity.

Historical Significance:
James Weldon Johnson — diplomat, songwriter ("Lift Every Voice and Sing," known as the Black national anthem), and NAACP executive secretary — published this novel anonymously in 1912, and many readers believed it was a true autobiography. The unnamed narrator's journey through ragtime clubs, European concert halls, lynching violence, and the decision to abandon his Black identity for the safety of whiteness was unprecedented in American fiction. The novel anticipated the Harlem Renaissance by a decade and explored questions of racial passing, cultural authenticity, and double consciousness that remain central to American life. It was republished under Johnson's name in 1927 to wide acclaim.

This public domain classic was originally published in 1912. Free to read and share.