Henry Lincoln "Linc" Johnson (July 27, 1870 – September 10, 1925) was an
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
attorney and politician from the state of
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
. He is best remembered as one of the most prominent
African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
Republicans of the first two decades of the 20th century and as a leader of the dominant
black-and-tan faction The black-and-tan faction was a faction in the Republican Party in the South from the 1870s to the 1960s. It replaced the Negro Republican Party faction's name after the 1890s.
Southern Republicans were divided into two factions: the lily-white f ...
of the
Republican Party of Georgia
The Republican Party of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს რესპუბლიკური პარტია, ''sakartvelos resp'ublik'uri part'ia''), commonly known as the Republicans (რესპუბლიკელებ ...
. He was appointed by President
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...
as
Recorder of Deeds
Recorder of deeds or deeds registry is a government office tasked with maintaining public records and documents, especially records relating to real estate ownership that provide persons other than the owner of a property with real rights over ...
for the
District of Columbia
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, at the time regarded as the premier political patronage position reserved for black
Americans
Americans are the Citizenship of the United States, citizens and United States nationality law, nationals of the United States, United States of America.; ; Although direct citizens and nationals make up the majority of Americans, many Multi ...
, and one of four appointees known as Taft's "Black Cabinet".
Following the Democratic administration of
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...
, Johnson was again appointed Recorder of the Deeds for the District in June 1921 by Republican President
Warren G. Harding
Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party, he was one of the most popular sitting U.S. presidents. A ...
, but his appointment was rejected by the
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...
, meeting in
executive session
An executive session is a term for any block within an otherwise open meeting (often of a board of directors or other deliberative assembly) in which minutes are taken separately or not at all, outsiders are not present, and the contents of the dis ...
and based largely on the opposition of the two Democratic senators from Georgia, a prerogative of the Senate. His rejection garnered newspaper headlines and marked the finish of Johnson's national political influence. Harding's administration worked with Georgia Republicans to reorganize the party to reduce black-and-tan influence, already declining due to the state's disenfranchisement of black voters.
Johnson returned to his law practice in the capital. He died on September 10, 1925 at the
Freedmen's Hospital
Howard University Hospital, previously known as Freedmen's Hospital, is a major hospital located in Washington, D.C., built on the site of the previous Griffith Stadium. The hospital has served the African-American community in the area for over ...
after having a
stroke
A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...
at his home in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
Biography
Early years
Henry Lincoln Johnson, known to family and friends as "Linc," was born on July 27, 1870 in
Augusta, Georgia
Augusta ( ), officially Augusta–Richmond County, is a consolidated city-county on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies across the Savannah River from South Carolina at the head of its navig ...
to former slaves Martha Ann and Peter Johnson.
His parents strongly encouraged education.
Johnson attended
Atlanta University
Clark Atlanta University (CAU or Clark Atlanta) is a private, Methodist, historically black research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Clark Atlanta is the first Historically Black College or University (HBCU) in the Southern United States. Founde ...
, a
historically black college
Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community. Mo ...
, and graduated in 1888.
[ Excluded from law schools in the South because of segregation, he went north to attend the ]University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
, obtaining a law degree in 1892.[ After passing the Georgia bar exam, Johnson opened a law practice in ]Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
. He eventually became the corporate attorney for the Atlanta Life Insurance Company
The Atlanta Life Financial Group was founded by Alonzo Herndon in Atlanta, Georgia. Born into slavery, he started in Atlanta as a young barber, eventually owning three shops. He became Atlanta's richest African American and a highly successful ...
, a major black-owned business.[Herman Mason, ''Politics, Civil Rights, and Law in Black Atlanta, 1870-1970.'' Mount Pleasant, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2000; pg. 56.]
In 1903 Johnson married Georgia Douglas, who also graduated from what is now Clark Atlanta University.[ She was 10 years younger than he. She achieved literary fame as a poet associated with the ]Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual and cultural revival of African American music, dance, art, fashion, literature, theater, politics and scholarship centered in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, spanning the 1920s and 1930s. At the t ...
. Together the couple had two sons, Peter Douglas Johnson and Henry Lincoln Johnson, Jr. The latter became a notable attorney in his own right.
Political leader
According to his death notice in the ''New York Age
''The New York Age'' was a weekly newspaper established in 1887. It was widely considered one of the most prominent African-American newspapers of its time. '', Johnson was a law partner of Bill Pledger
William Anderson Pledger (1852 - 1904) was a lawyer, newspaper publisher, and politician in Georgia. He is credited as the first African American lawyer in Atlanta and his political roles and efforts led the way for many who followed.
Pledger was ...
and succeeded him in political office. During the first years of the 20th century, Johnson emerged as a leading boss
Boss may refer to:
Occupations
* Supervisor, often referred to as boss
* Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier
* Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization
* Fire boss, a ...
in Georgia Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
politics.[Robert E. Hauser, "'The Georgia Experiment': President Warren G. Harding's Attempt to Reorganize the Republican Party in Georgia," ''Georgia Historical Quarterly,'' vol. 62, no. 4 (Winter 1978), pg. 289.]
Johnson's role was that of the chief dispenser of political patronage
Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...
to black Republicans in the state, at a time when their ability to elect representatives of their choice was being limited by voter fraud, suppression and, in 1909, constitutional amendments and laws passed by white Democrats in the state legislature that disenfranchised most black voters.[Donald Lee Grant, ''The Way It Was in the South: The Black Experience in Georgia.'' Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 2001; pg. 336.] Blacks continued to be a loyal and important component of the Republican Party coalition in the era. Johnson was described by one journalist of the era as a "tall figure with an oratorical turn of phrase and an emphatic style of expression."["Link Johnson in Conference with Coolidge"]
''Pittsburgh Courier,'' vol. 14, no. 37 (Sept. 29, 1923), pg. 1.
In 1910 Johnson was appointed by President William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...
as Recorder of Deeds
Recorder of deeds or deeds registry is a government office tasked with maintaining public records and documents, especially records relating to real estate ownership that provide persons other than the owner of a property with real rights over ...
for the District of Columbia
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
. This was regarded as the premier political patronage
Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...
job, which had been historically earmarked for African Americans since after the Civil War. Also appointed by Taft were James Carroll Napier as Register of the Treasury, Robert Heberton Terrell
Robert Heberton Terrell (November 27, 1857 – December 20, 1925) was an attorney and the second African American to serve as a justice of the peace in Washington, DC. In 1911 he was appointed as a judge to the District of Columbia Municipal Co ...
as District of Columbia Municipal Judge, and William H. Lewis
William Henry Lewis (November 28, 1868 – January 1, 1949) was an African-American pioneer in athletics, law and politics. Born in Virginia to freedmen, he graduated from Amherst College in Massachusetts, where he had been one of the first Africa ...
as Assistant United States Attorney General, making up what was known as his "Black Cabinet."[ In JSTOR] Johnson and his family moved from Atlanta to Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
to undertake this new position.
Johnson is believed to have worked behind the scenes for the election of Southern Democrat Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...
in the 1912 Presidential election, as did other black leaders such as W. E. B. Du Bois
William Edward Burghardt Du Bois ( ; February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963) was an American-Ghanaian sociologist, socialist, historian, and Pan-Africanist civil rights activist. Born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Du Bois grew up in ...
of the NAACP
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...
, William Monroe Trotter
William Monroe Trotter, sometimes just Monroe Trotter (April 7, 1872 – April 7, 1934), was a newspaper editor and real estate businessman based in Boston, Massachusetts. An activist for African-American civil rights, he was an early opponent of ...
of the National Equal Rights League
The National Equal Rights League (NERL) is the oldest nationwide human rights organization in the United States. It was founded in Syracuse, New York in 1864 dedicated to the liberation of black people in the United States. Its origins can be tr ...
, and Bishop Alexander Walters and J. Milton Waldron, prominent clergymen, all of whom opposed Booker T. Washington
Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, orator, and adviser to several presidents of the United States. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the dominant leader in the African-American c ...
's politics and were disappointed at the Republican Party's tepid response to their issues. Johnson continued in his federal position until the Wilson administration purged African American and other Republicans from the patronage positions in the customary change after a new president of a different political party was elected.
More significantly, influenced by Southern members of his cabinet, Wilson segregated federal offices, lunchrooms, and restrooms for the first time. In 1914 the Civil Service Commission
A civil service commission is a government agency that is constituted by legislature to regulate the employment and working conditions of civil servants, oversee hiring and promotions, and promote the values of the public service. Its role is rou ...
began to require photos with job applications, a means to screen out blacks. Other forms of racial discrimination were used against African-American federal workers during the Wilson administration. The NAACP and other leading black groups protested but were unsuccessful in changing these policies and many African Americans were affected, both in Washington and nationally. In 1912, at the beginning of Taft's administration, some 19,000 African Americans were working nationwide for such departments as the Treasury, Post Office (including railway postal workers), Navy, and Bureau of Engraving and Printing Office.
Johnson was sharply criticized for hubris by the black socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
magazine, '' The Messenger.'' It criticized him as an example of a "sleek, fat, potbellied Negro politicians who have been trafficking for half a century in the sweat and blood and tears of toiling Negro washerwomen, cotton pickers, miners, and factory hands."
During the 1916 Presidential election, the tensions of the Republican Party of Georgia
The Republican Party of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს რესპუბლიკური პარტია, ''sakartvelos resp'ublik'uri part'ia''), commonly known as the Republicans (რესპუბლიკელებ ...
resulted in two rival factions: a group of African-American-dominated regulars headed by Johnson, commonly known as the "black and tans", and an insurgency of European Americans commonly known as the "lily whites". Johnson managed to retain control of the party apparatus in the presidential election year of 1916 and again in 1920. By controlling the Georgia delegation to the Republican National Convention in those years, he retained control over federal patronage appointments in Georgia.
In 1920, Johnson was among black leaders of the Republican Party who met in Chicago to establish the Lincoln League
The Lincoln League was the name taken by a number of Republican Party-affiliated clubs in the United States, named for President Abraham Lincoln. Among the most famous of the leagues was one organized in 1916 by Robert Church Jr. in Memphis, Tenn ...
. This intra-party group formed to attempt to force the national Republican Party to take a firm stand against lynching
Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged transgressor, punish a convicted transgressor, or intimidate people. It can also be an ex ...
, Jim Crow
The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Other areas of the United States were affected by formal and informal policies of segregation as well, but many states outside the Sout ...
laws, voter disfranchisement, and other assaults upon the African-American community in the South. From 1890 to 1909, all states of the South had passed laws to disenfranchise most blacks and many poor whites. Johnson won promises that the Republican Party would take more determined action on these matters if it won the White House in the fall of 1920.
In 1920 Johnson was elected as Georgia's representative to the Republican National Committee
The Republican National Committee (RNC) is a U.S. political committee that assists the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican brand and political platform, as well as assisting in fu ...
. The selection had not been without controversy, and Johnson had concealed his candidacy until the last minute, when he was elected by the loyal Georgia delegation over his white rival, Roscoe Pickett, 12 votes to 3, with two abstaining.[George L. Hart (ed.)]
''Official Report of the Proceedings of the Seventeenth Republican National Convention: Held in Chicago, Illinois, June 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12, 1920...''
New York: The Tenny Press, 1920; pp. 92-93. Under the standing rules of the convention, the full convention was required to ratify the selection of each state's delegation, which was usually a ''pro forma'' voice vote. But when the Georgia delegation reported their selection on the floor and the ''pro forma'' voice vote was taken, a chorus of voices were raised in opposition to Johnson. A two-thirds vote of the convention was required to set aside the standing rules and overturn the Georgia delegation's selection. The delegates did not gain sufficient votes for such action, and thereby ratified the choice of Johnson. This averted what would have been a potential election-year embarrassment of the Republicans as they were seeking to retain black voters outside the South.
Failed nomination of 1920
Johnson's status was bolstered by the strong showing of Republicans in the Presidential election of 1920. The party gained its largest vote in the South
South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...
in four decades. But the brewing factional breach in the Republican Party of Georgia
The Republican Party of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს რესპუბლიკური პარტია, ''sakartvelos resp'ublik'uri part'ia''), commonly known as the Republicans (რესპუბლიკელებ ...
between Johnson's "black and tans," and the group of European Americans known as the "lily whites" erupted in the aftermath of the election. The two groups battled for influence with the new Republican administration of Warren G. Harding
Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party, he was one of the most popular sitting U.S. presidents. A ...
to control federal patronage in the state.
Harding reacted to the factional split with an attempt to reorganize the Republican Party in Georgia independently of these two feuding groups.[Hauser, "'The Georgia Experiment,'" pg. 290.] In April 1921 five prominent Georgia business leaders were called to the White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
by President Harding. He asked lumber mill owner John Louis Philips to conduct an initial survey of Georgia business figures to determine their potential level of support for joining a new, reorganized Georgia Republican Party.
Harding's machination was endorsed by the "lily whites," who believed it could be a means to establish white hegemony, even if those chosen to head the reorganization were selected from outside factional ranks.[Hauser, "'The Georgia Experiment,'" pg. 291.] Johnson had the most to lose from Harding's reorganization effort and opposed it. Johnson was ultimately induced to quit the factional battle and to exit Georgia politics through a reappointment by Harding to the choice position of Registrar of Deeds for the District of Columbia
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
.
After Johnson was appointed in June 1921 and moved again to Washington,["'Link' Johnson Nomination Rejected by U.S. Senate: Negro is Refused Job as Recorder of Deeds in DC,"]
''Atlanta Constitution,'' vol. 54, no. 164 (Nov. 23, 1921), pg. 1. a handpicked Republican convention of 230 people, predominantly consisting of white business leaders, reorganized the Georgia party on July 26, 1921.
Johnson's appointment was taken up by the United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...
for ratification in November 1921. There Georgia Democratic Senator Tom Watson, a political foe and supporter of white supremacy, led a fight against Johnson's confirmation in committee and on the floor of the Senate. Watson charged that the appointment of Johnson was "personally obnoxious to him", as Johnson had said in an interview with an African-American newspaper from Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
that he would "rather be in hell without Tom Watson than to be in heaven with him." Watson charged that Johnson had engaged in financial shenanigans in Atlanta which made him unsuitable for government trust.
When senators met in executive session
An executive session is a term for any block within an otherwise open meeting (often of a board of directors or other deliberative assembly) in which minutes are taken separately or not at all, outsiders are not present, and the contents of the dis ...
, Georgia's other Senator, white Democrat Nathaniel Edwin Harris
Nathaniel Edwin Harris (January 21, 1846 – September 21, 1929) was an American lawyer and politician, and the 61st Governor of Georgia.
Early life
Harris was born in Jonesboro, Tennessee on January 21, 1846 to Edna (née Haynes) and Alexa ...
, reportedly joined Watson in pronouncing Johnson "personally obnoxious to him," code words invoking an unwritten rule in the Senate granting ''de facto'' veto power to senators over appointments relating to their states. The vote against Johnson which followed was virtually unanimous; only one Senator voted for Johnson's appointment over the objections of the Georgians.
Death and legacy
After his 1921 confirmation defeat in the Senate, Johnson returned to legal practice in Washington, D.C.; his place in national politics was thereafter limited. One of Johnson's most famous cases came in 1922, when he was called to defend a young black man charged with sexual assault of a white girl below the age of consent
The age of consent is the age at which a person is considered to be legally competent to consent to sexual acts. Consequently, an adult who engages in sexual activity with a person younger than the age of consent is unable to legally claim ...
.[Smith, ''Emancipation,'' pg. 196.] These extremely serious charges carried a potential penalty of 30 years in prison or execution
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the State (polity), state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to ...
. The young man was also at risk for extrajudicial lynching.
Following expert cross-examination in the case, Johnson delivered what was called by one observer one of the "most eloquent and forceful" closing arguments ever heard in a District of Columbia court. The jury failed to agree in the case after six hours of deliberation, with seven jurors voting for acquittal. The foreman later commented that the defendant owed his life to Johnson's summation.
Despite his removal from Georgia politics, Johnson was not entirely forgotten in the corridors of power. In September 1923 Johnson was one of a handful of black political leaders invited to Washington, D.C. for private consultations with President Calvin Coolidge
Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; ; July 4, 1872January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States from 1923 to 1929. Born in Vermont, Coolidge was a History of the Republican Party (United States), Republican lawyer ...
on issues of concern to the African-American community. They continued to seek more national support for alleviating oppression in the South.
Henry Lincoln Johnson died on September 10, 1925 at Freedmen's Hospital
Howard University Hospital, previously known as Freedmen's Hospital, is a major hospital located in Washington, D.C., built on the site of the previous Griffith Stadium. The hospital has served the African-American community in the area for over ...
after having a stroke
A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...
at his home in Washington, D.C.["H. L. Johnson Dies: A Republican Leader: Negro National Committeeman Had Won Fights for Seat at Two Conventions," '']New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
,'' Sept. 11, 1925. He was 55 years old at the time of his death. He was buried on September 14, 1925, at Columbian Harmony Cemetery
Columbian Harmony Cemetery was an African-American cemetery that formerly existed at 9th Street NE and Rhode Island Avenue NE in Washington, D.C., in the United States. Constructed in 1859, it was the successor to the smaller Harmoneon Cemetery i ...
. His remains were moved to National Harmony Memorial Park Cemetery in 1959, when Columbian Harmony closed.
Shortly after his death, Johnson was eulogized with an editorial in the ''Pittsburgh Courier
The ''Pittsburgh Courier'' was an African-American weekly newspaper published in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1907 until October 22, 1966. By the 1930s, the ''Courier'' was one of the leading black newspapers in the United States.
It was acqu ...
,'' an important black newspaper, which opined:
Footnotes
Works
* ''The Negro Under Wilson.'' Washington, D.C.: Republican National Committee, n.d. 916?
Letter to W.E.B. DuBois, July 18, 1918
W.E.B. DuBois papers, Special Collections & University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Further reading
* Donald Lee Grant, ''The Way it was in the South: The Black Experience in Georgia.'' Carroll Publishing Co./Birch Lane Press, 1993; reissued University of Georgia Press, 2001.
* Robert E. Hauser, "'The Georgia Experiment': President Warren G. Harding's Attempt to Reorganize the Republican Party in Georgia," ''Georgia Historical Quarterly,'' vol. 62, no. 4 (Winter 1978), pp. 288–303
In JSTOR
* Herman Mason, ''Politics, Civil Rights, and Law in Black Atlanta, 1870-1970.'' Mount Pleasant, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2000.
* J.A. Rogers and A.S. Milai
"Facts About the Negro,"
''Pittsburgh Courier,'' vol. 57, no. 20 (May 15, 1965), pg. 11.
* J. Clay Smith, Jr., ''Emancipation: The Making of the Black Lawyer, 1844-1944.'' Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999.
"Georgia GOP Boss for Next Four Years,"
''Atlanta Constitution,'' vol. 52, no. 364 (June 12, 1920), pg. 4.
"Vindication of B.J. Davis: Failure of Case Against the Well Known Odd Fellow: History of the Proceedings,"
''Pittsburgh Courier,'' vol. 3, no. 2 (Dec. 30, 1911), pg. 1.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Henry Lincoln
1870 births
1925 deaths
Politicians from Atlanta
Politicians from Augusta, Georgia
Clark Atlanta University alumni
University of Michigan Law School alumni
African-American lawyers
Criminal defense lawyers
Georgia (U.S. state) Republicans
African-American people in Georgia (U.S. state) politics
Activists for African-American civil rights
Burials at National Harmony Memorial Park
Burials at Columbian Harmony Cemetery
District of Columbia Recorders of Deeds
20th-century African-American people