BAIA BITS: Joshua Johnson
Little Moments Where Knowledge Meets Art
Portrait of Abner Coker by Joshua Johnson
Many have questioned his race. For 18th century painter, Joshua Johnson, this was the norm. Considered the earliest documented professional African American painter, Johnson’s legal status has consistently been questioned as well. The descendants of the families he painted portraits for claim Johnson was once enslaved. However, Johnson’s name appeared at the turn of the 18th century in the City Directory of Baltimore, a publication reserved for the free. Still, it is likely that Johnson was biracial and, at times, passing, given his name later appeared in an 1817 directory among “free householders of Color.”
Even so, few questioned his talent. Between 1795 and 1825, Johnson painted many portraits of Baltimore’s rising and wealthy white residents. Apparently, he was successful, given land records from the 1820s show Johnson owning multiple properties in three Maryland counties. So, if he was once enslaved, Johnson, his wife, and three children appeared far from it two decades into the 19th century.
Nonetheless, Johnson had his share of struggles. On December 19, 1798, the popular painter was quoted in the Baltimore Intelligencer, characterizing himself a “self-taught genius” who overcame “many obstacles in the pursuit of his studies.” Some believe this to be a veiled reference to his racial identity and the discrimination he likely endured as a result.
Despite his tribulations, Johnson was able to forge a successful 30-year career as an artist. In the Baltimore Intelligencer article, upon being asked about his productive portrait career, Johnson went on to promote that it is “highly gratifying” to employ superior skills to “execute all commands with an effect, and in a style, which must give satisfaction.”
Johnson, now considered the first professional African American painter, died some time in or after 1826, with few details known about his passing.
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Stephanie Robinson, Esq. is a Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School, a national media figure, author, former Chief Counsel to Senator Edward M. Kennedy, and former President and CEO of The Jamestown Project, a national think tank focusing on democracy. Ms. Robinson hosted her own national radio show, Roundtable with Stephanie Robinson, a popular weekly 30-minute, talk-radio program focused on culture, politics, and relationships that aired on TSN. For over half a decade, Ms. Robinson was Political and Social Commentator for the Tom Joyner Morning Show where she spoke to between 9 and 10 million people weekly, offering her perspective on the day’s most pressing social and political issues.
Robinson is co-author of Accountable: Making America as Good as Its Promise, (Atria Books, 2009). She is a nationally recognized expert on issues relating to social policy, women, race, family, and electoral politics. She was featured as one of the 30 Young Leaders of the Future in Ebony Magazine and was profiled in the book As I Am: Young African American Women in a Critical Age, by Julian Okwu. Robinson is a frequent speaker expressing her views in countless media outlets including the Associated Press, The Washington Post, C-Span, Fox News, NewsOne and NPR.
Stephanie was a Member of President Clinton’s first Mission to Africa regarding children orphaned by AIDS. Robinson, a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Maryland and the Harvard Law School, is a native of Steubenville, Ohio. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband and two sons.
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