Amsterdam was a great surprise to me. I had always thought of Venice as the city of canals; it had never entered my mind that I should find similar conditions in a Dutch town.

Johnson is remembered best for his leadership within the NAACP as well as for his writing which includes novels poems and collections of folklore. James Weldon Johnson (June 17 1871 – June 26 1938) was an American author politician diplomat critic journalist poet anthologist educator lawyer songwriter and early civil rights activist.