James Coody Johnson

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James Coody Johnson (1864 - February 1927) was an African Creek entrepreneur, lawyer and politician. He was a leading advocate for African American rights.

[edit] Early life

James Coody Johnson was born in 1864 at Fort Gibson to Robert Johnson, an African Creek interpretor to the Seminole nation, and Elizabeth Davis. He was educated at the Presbyterian Mission near Wewoka and was sponsored by the Seminole nation at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. After graduation in 1884 he returned to the Indian Territory and spent the next year and a half as a cowboy.

[edit] Career

When his father died in 1886 he returned to the Creek County and became an interpreter to Federal Judge Isaac Parker. After studying law under Judge Parker he was admitted to practice in the federal courts and was accorded dual citizenship in both the Creek and Seminole nations. He became an advisor to the Seminole Chief Halputta Micco and an official interpreter to the Seminole nation.

Before statehood in Oklahoma in 1907 James Coody Johnson was president of the Negro Protection League. James Coody Johnson was a leading advocate for African American rights and leading opponent of the introduction of Jim Crow laws in Okhlahoma.

James Coody Johnson died at his home in Wewoka, Okhlahoma in February 1927.