Tag Archives: Bumpy Johnson

Born Dec. 7, 1876, in Christiansted, Holstein of mixed African and Danish descent in St. Croix, Danish West Indies — whose birth name was Egbert Joseph — immigrated to Harlem in 1884 with his mother and went to high school in Brooklyn. His father was a landed person of color who was in turn the son of a Danish officer in the Danish West Indies Colonial militia. Attending high school in Brooklyn, he enlisted in the United States Navy following his graduation. During World War I, he was able to revisit his birthplace while stationed in what had become the United States Virgin Islands. Continue reading →