A bill set for public hearing in Augusta March 4 would name Wiscasset's downtown railroad crossing for poet-diplomat-civil rights advocate and "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing" writer James Weldon Johnson, killed in a car-train crash at that crossing in 1938. Selectmen are set to consider the proposal Tuesday, Feb. 18, and town officials would like residents' input.

The town received the request for a letter of support too late to set a local hearing, Town Manager Dennis Simmons tells selectmen in his manager's report, released Friday. "The request has been included on the (Feb. 18) agenda to raise awareness and encourage public input, either in person or via email. Emails can be sent to individual Board members or myself. Testimony can be submitted to the Legislature in person or via email." 

Hours after Simmons released his report, Ben Barry, communications director for the Maine Senate Majority Office, confirmed to Wiscasset Newspaper the state hearing has been moved from Feb. 25 to March 4. He was passing along the information from the bill's submitter, Sen. Rachel Talbot Ross, familiar to Wiscasset Newspaper readers for her involvement in past local and state recognitions for Johnson.

Barry also relayed for the senator, "While the public hearing on her legislation has been moved to (March 4), on (Feb. 25) she will be sponsoring a Joint Resolution in the Senate celebrating James Weldon Johnson in honor of Black History Month."

Reached Saturday via email, Simmons said the new state hearing date did not add to the board's options. "Unfortunately no since the hearing will still be before another (board) meeting," he said. 

The Feb. 18 meeting at the town office and on Zoom, and carried on the town's YouTube channel, starts at 6 p.m. 

The proposal is the latest in a series of requests Wiscasset has fielded since 2013 from Maine and beyond about honoring Johnson, such as with a library display or a marker downtown. Some residents have questioned memorializing the Jacksonville, Florida native with no known Wiscasset ties; Johnson had been on a Maine visit when he died. 
 
In 2020, selectmen accepted the James Weldon Johnson Observance Task Force’s gift of a bench for the town common. Then-selectman and task force member Heather Jones built the bench; a plaque was added last June. And with ceremonies and other activities, Wiscasset has been part of Maine's new annual James Weldon Johnson Day on his birthday in June.

In a phone interview Friday, Jones called the would be naming of the Main Street crossing "a really cool idea," another way to show that "Wiscasset connects with the country in unique and extraordinary ways." He expects that when people see Johnson's name there, they will look it up and learn about his life.

Retired Florida state senator Tony Hill, a self-described "disciple" of Johnson and advocate for honoring him and his work, was thinking the same thing. He said people will be Googling Johnson's name as a result of seeing it at the crossing, on the Wiscasset side of Donald E. Davey Bridge.

"I'm deliciously excited about the possibilities for this," Hill said in Saturday's phone interview. Later that day, at a new park in Jacksonville that honors Johnson, Hill took part in a celebration of the 125th anniversary of "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing. The song Johnson wrote and brother J. Rosamond Johnson composed has been known as the black national anthem and been sung at recent editions of the Super Bowl. 

Hill added about Wiscasset, he cannot thank enough Jones and Selectman Terry Heller for their support for remembering James Weldon Johnson and Wiscasset's place in history as where he died. Route One, which is Main Street on that end of Wiscasset, runs all the way to Johnson's native Jacksonville, Hill observed.

Heller, in a text response to questions Friday night, said about the proposed naming of the crossing: "This was a distinguished person that no one up here knew about, but they sure knew about him in the rest of the music world, especially New York. Over 2,500 people attended his funeral and caused traffic to back up all over downtown NYC."

Johnson's great niece Melanie Edwards, in a phone interview Friday night, said of the proposed naming of the crossing, "This is wonderful. He's such a low-key hero, and this is a great opportunity for the state of Maine to honor an accomplished American."