Edward Austin Johnson (1860–1944) was an attorney who became the first African-American member of the New York state legislature when he was elected to the New York State Assembly in 1917 as a Republican. He is best-known as the author of "A School History of the Negro Race in America", which was the first textbook by a black author to be approved by the North Carolina State Board of Education for use in the public schools. In 1899 Johnson published "History of Negro Soldiers in the Spanish-American War". In this book Johnson writes of a time when the Negro troops preserved the life of Theodore Roosevelt: "When Colonel Theodore Roosevelt returned from the command of the famous Rough Riders, he delivered a farewell address to his men, in which he made the following kind reference to the gallant Negro soldiers: 'Now, I want to say just a word more to some of the men I see standing around not of your number. I refer to the colored regiments, who occupied the right and left flanks of . CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THIS BOOK FOR FREE