Edward A. Johnson

:"For people with similar names, see Edward Johnson."Edward Austin Johnson (1860-1944) was an attorney who became the first African-American member of the New York state legislature when he was elected to the New York State Assembly in 1917.

Johnson was born in slavery in Wake County, North Carolina. He was educated at Atlanta University and worked as a school principal from 1883 until 1891, first in Atlanta and then in Raleigh, North Carolina. Meanwhile, he wrote "A School History of the Negro Race in America", which was the first textbook by a black author to be approved by the North Carolina State Board of Education for use in the public schools.

Johnson earned a law degree at Shaw University in 1891 and thereafter practiced law in the Raleigh area while also teaching at Shaw. Johnson won every case that he argued before the North Carolina Supreme Court. From 1899 to 1907, he was an assistant to the U.S. Attorney for eastern North Carolina. Johnson became active in the Republican Party and served a term on Raleigh's city board of aldermen.

In 1907, Johnson left North Carolina for New York City. He became active in Harlem and in the Republican Party there, eventually being elected to the state legislature from the 19th district in 1917. Johnson was defeated for re-election the next year. In 1928, he ran for the United States House of Representatives but lost to Royal H. Weller.

References

* [http://www.ncmarkers.com/Markers.aspx?sp=Markers&sv=H-90 North Carolina Historical Marker]
* [http://docsouth.unc.edu/church/johnson/bio.html "Edward A. Johnson" from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography]
* [http://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=89707 OurCampaigns.com biography page]