The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man
The 1912 novel of a biracial man who passes as white, published anonymously as a memoir. James Weldon Johnson credited himself in the 1927 reissue.
- Original byline
- Anonymous
- Published
- 1912
- Form
- Novels
- Authorship
- Revealed: James Weldon Johnson
- Attribution source
- Wikidata P50 (Q7714967); Wikipedia note
- Revealed
- 1927, the author credited himself in the 1927 reissue
- Reason for anonymity
- Unrecorded
- Copyright
- Public domain
- Reference
- Wikipedia · Wikidata
The authorship story
The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man was published anonymously in 1912, presented as the true confession of a light-skinned Black man who chooses to pass as white after witnessing a lynching. The anonymity was strategic in two directions: it protected the author's diplomatic career, and it let readers take the fiction for fact, which many did. James Weldon Johnson, writer, diplomat, and later head of the NAACP, credited himself in the 1927 Knopf reissue at the height of the Harlem Renaissance. The book's move from anonymous 'memoir' to acknowledged novel is part of its meaning: passing was the subject and the method.
Questions readers ask
Who wrote The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man?
The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man was published anonymously and is documented as the work of James Weldon Johnson. The authorship became public in 1927 (the author credited himself in the 1927 reissue). Source: Wikidata P50 (Q7714967); Wikipedia note.
Can I read The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man for free?
Yes. The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man is in the public domain and the full text is free to read at the Internet Archive.
When was The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man published?
The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man was published in 1912 without an author’s name.
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