<P> `` Lift Every Voice and Sing '' was publicly performed first as a poem as part of a celebration of Abraham Lincoln 's birthday on February 12 , 1900 , by 500 school children at the segregated Stanton School in Jacksonville , Florida . Its principal , James Weldon Johnson , wrote the words to introduce its honored guest Booker T. Washington . The poem was set to music in 1905 by Johnson 's brother John . In 1919 , the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ( NAACP ) dubbed it `` The Negro National Anthem '' for its power in voicing the cry for liberation and affirmation for African - American people . </P>
<P> `` Lift Every Voice and Sing '' was publicly performed first as a poem as part of a celebration of Abraham Lincoln 's birthday on February 12 , 1900 , by 500 school children at the segregated Stanton School in Jacksonville , Florida . Its principal , James Weldon Johnson , wrote the words to introduce its honored guest Booker T. Washington . The poem was set to music in 1905 by Johnson 's brother John . In 1919 , the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ( NAACP ) dubbed it `` The Negro National Anthem '' for its power in voicing the cry for liberation and affirmation for African - American people . </P>
where was lift every voice and sing written
where was lift every voice and sing written
Jacksonville , Florida
Jacksonville , Florida