The Russian Ballet

Amelia E. Johnson was a Canadian author and poet. Johnson was born in Toronto, Canada West. As an editor, she hoped to inspire other writers of African American origin by publishing their work in a brief monthly. Writing under the name Mrs. A. E. Johnson, her style to writing has been compared to Emma Dunham Kelley and Paul Laurence Dunbar, emphasizing on the social surroundings of her characters rather than defining ethnic or "racial" characteristics. After a century of obscurity, literary scholars rediscovered Johnson's works, despite the fact that she had been hailed by her contemporaries. She married the Rev. Harvey Johnson, a well-known Baptist clergyman whom she met after relocating to Boston, United States. She also published in several well-known Black print publications, including The Baptist Messenger, The American Baptist, and Our Women and Children. She is also an English translation of "Sleeping Beauty" by Charles Perrault (Dodd Mead and Company, 1921). She released The Joy in 1887, followed by The Ivy in 1888. These short-lived journals aimed to teach young African Americans about their culture, with The Joy featuring stories for young ladies and The Ivy raising knowledge about African American history.