February 12, 1900: The "Black National Anthem"

James Weldon Johnson (left) and J. Rosamond Johnson

February 12, 1900: "Lift Every Voice and Sing" is published, on what would have been the 91st birthday of President Abraham Lincoln. The lyrics were written by James Weldon Johnson, and the music by his brother, J. Rosamond Johnson. The men were from Jacksonville, Florida.

Written from the context of African-Americans in the late 19th century, the hymn is a prayer of thanksgiving to God, as well as a prayer for faithfulness and freedom, with imagery that evokes the biblical Exodus from slavery to the freedom of the "promised land."

President Theodore Roosevelt appointed James Weldon Johnson as U.S. Consul in Venezuela and Nicaragua from 1906 to 1913. In 1917, he was named Executive Secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), which adopted "Lift Every Voice and Sing" as "the Negro National Anthem." Eventually, it became known as "the Black National Anthem."

James Weldon Johnson served as Executive Secretary until 1918, and again from 1920 to 1929. He then began teaching at Fisk University, a historically black school in Nashville. In 1934, he was named the 1st African-American professor at New York University. He died in 1938, at the age of 67.

J. Rosamond Johnson wrote several Broadway musicals, and in 1935 he played Frazier in the original production of George Gershwin's black-themed musical Porgy and Bess. He lived until 1954.

The song gained new prominence in 2020, as part of the protests over the police murder of George Floyd. It was played before Super Bowl LV, and white supremacists protested. With that in mind, the normally conservative-to-a-fault NFL, in recognition of just how many people involved in it are black, decided to have it sung before every Super Bowl thereafter, along with "The Star-Spangled Banner," the official National Anthem.

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February 12, 1900 was a Monday. Baseball and football were out of season. Basketball barely existed. There was 1 score on this day: The Winnipeg Victorias, holders of the Stanley Cup, beat the Montreal Shamrocks, 4-3 at the Montreal Arena. But it was a best-2-out-of-3 series, and the Shamrocks won on February 14 and 16, and took the Cup.